⋙ Libro I Want To Show You More Jamie Quatro 9780802120755 Books

I Want To Show You More Jamie Quatro 9780802120755 Books

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I Want To Show You More Jamie Quatro 9780802120755 Books

If there was an option for 3 1/2 stars, I'd go with that.

I first encountered Quatro in Ploughshares with her story "Sinkhole." I love that story. I'll say that again: I love that story. It's idiosyncratic and heartbreaking. I found another of Quatro's stories in AQR--"Georgia the Whole Time"--which I also very much enjoyed. Finally, I ran into "Demolition" in the Kenyon Review. I enjoyed "Demolition" because it's sort of a bizarre account of a deviant religious cult.

Anyway, I went into this collection with high expectations, but came away a bit disappointed. First, I found the recurring adultry/phone sex theme tiring and a bit bland. Many of these stories are thematically rich but lack a strong central plot (such as "Holy Ground" and "The Anointing"). Another recurrent theme is religion. The religious theme is somewhat elusive, and I didn't get a clear picture of the role that religion is supposed to be playing here (clearly, these characters are questioning their faith, but the end result is somewhat vague. Do they lose faith? Merely question it? Reaffirm it? I'm just not sure).

Still, there are a few gems here, such as the ones mentioned earlier, as well as: "1.7 to Tennessee" and "Better to Lose an Eye" (which I enjoyed despite the fact that the idea may be a bit trite).

Quatro does a fantastic job with language. I just wish the themes of these stories were a bit more unique and the plots were just a tad stronger. The phone sex thing really detracted from this collection.


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I Want To Show You More Jamie Quatro 9780802120755 Books Reviews

I so wanted to like this collection of short stories. I couldn't get through the entire collection. Seemed to be the recycling of the same themes and I just didn't get the point. These stories made no sense to me.
A book of short stories set mostly around Lookout Mt. TN/GA If you want somewhat off stories centering around infidelity, death, and family set in the intense atmosphere of the "Christian" south this is a great collection. Thought provoking, open minded, the stories do not all share identical moods. I wanted her to show me more, but I think part of the point was there was no more.
Holy crap. This debut collection by Jamie Quatro contains some of the most immaculate, finely-crafted short stories I have had the pleasure of reading. There are some parallels between the stories, but not so much that any one theme becomes too dominant. "Sinkhole" especially stays with me. It's lovely. It's absolution.
There are a few gems -- "1.7 to Tennessee," "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Pavement," "Here" and "Sinkhole," not sure about "Demolition" or "Holy Ground." The very short pieces simply do not work. The sum may be less than the whole, but it's definitely an interesting book. Not as good as the New York Times review, but worth the effort. M. Adelman
4 stars is maybe a tad generous, but the author is clearly very talented. The writing is compelling and well-suited to the short story format (because you get kinda overwhelmed by how bleak they are! One or two stories at a time is the max I could handle...) The proportion of stories about adultery is strangely high. But overall it is beautifully written and worth your time.
The other five star reviews have expressed what I feel about these stories. Many of the stories are dark and earthy, qualities I love. There is so much beauty and love running under and through the stories and I am in awe of Quatro's talent. I read this in a weekend.
I hate the cover art, but the stories themselves are quite good. Jamie Quatro manages to combine the sacred with the profane, the religious with the sexual, in ways that are quite compelling. The voices of the narrating characters are strong and unapologetic, even if from an objective standpoint the reader knows the characters themselves are flawed. The collection did something I've never run across before where in addition to the completely stand-alone stories, there are a couple sets of linked stories following one character or plot path. The linked stories are not necessarily in chronological order, nor are they grouped together in the collection, but you can tell from the plot that they are about the same character(s). One set is about a woman engaged in an affair, and another, smaller set, is about a family in which the wife is dying of cancer. Yes, these may sound cliche, but Jamie Quatro writes them to be anything but.
If there was an option for 3 1/2 stars, I'd go with that.

I first encountered Quatro in Ploughshares with her story "Sinkhole." I love that story. I'll say that again I love that story. It's idiosyncratic and heartbreaking. I found another of Quatro's stories in AQR--"Georgia the Whole Time"--which I also very much enjoyed. Finally, I ran into "Demolition" in the Kenyon Review. I enjoyed "Demolition" because it's sort of a bizarre account of a deviant religious cult.

Anyway, I went into this collection with high expectations, but came away a bit disappointed. First, I found the recurring adultry/phone sex theme tiring and a bit bland. Many of these stories are thematically rich but lack a strong central plot (such as "Holy Ground" and "The Anointing"). Another recurrent theme is religion. The religious theme is somewhat elusive, and I didn't get a clear picture of the role that religion is supposed to be playing here (clearly, these characters are questioning their faith, but the end result is somewhat vague. Do they lose faith? Merely question it? Reaffirm it? I'm just not sure).

Still, there are a few gems here, such as the ones mentioned earlier, as well as "1.7 to Tennessee" and "Better to Lose an Eye" (which I enjoyed despite the fact that the idea may be a bit trite).

Quatro does a fantastic job with language. I just wish the themes of these stories were a bit more unique and the plots were just a tad stronger. The phone sex thing really detracted from this collection.