The Dog of the Marriage

It took me a while to get all the way through this - not out of quality - mostly because I've been trying to use my free time to write and also give notes to my fellow writers on their works-in-progress - and the problem with reading a book of short stories is that it's easy to put down and not get back around to because you don't feel like you've abandoned it the way you would with a novel.
The more I read short stories the more I realize that I'm a man who likes a solid structure.  I can appreciate the works of Hempel because they are beautifully crafted and written - she uses words like weapons and leaves you humbled, but in my anal way I'd label them more "moments" than "stories".  But that's just me.
I'm proud of myself to finally get through Amy's works - knowing how long she takes to craft them I imagine I'm a few years away still from whatever she's got up her sleeve next. 
All of Amy's books are easy to recommend, especially to those who don't mind having to spend a bit of time reflecting on what exactly is going on in the story past the face value.  Amy is a writer who started off strong and continues to grow through her work - and it's no small feat that her work is made up entirely of short fiction.
Read her - you won't regret it.
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel  The Dog of the Marriage: Stories

Tumble Home

 The third in Amy's collection of stories.  I believe that this is the book that I had probably read the most of originally.  You can really see Amy evolving as a writer in this collection (which is no small feat considering how great she is in her previous work).  The stand outs in this collection for me are 'Weekend', 'Church Cancels Cow', and 'The Annex', although they all have something worth reading for. 
This collection also features Amy's first novella, a story of the same title as the book 'Tumble Home', and I must admit that I found it a bit of a chore to get through.  I want to think that I wasn't in the mood for it when I was reading it, but I'm not sure that's it.  I think part of it is that I enjoy structure and story arcs and whatnot, and that's not what Amy's going for here at all - and so it's hard for me to really judge it.  In her shorter work I'm happy to just spend time with these characters and this world for the delightful pages that she allows me to do so.  But in a longer work I find that the lack of story movement to be a tad frustrating.  It's by no means bad writing - Amy is incapable of that - but it's just not my kind of thing. 
This week I'll read the final volume The Dog of the Marriage, of which I've previously read a few, but very much looking forward to revisiting.  I've then got to take a long stare at my stack of books to figure out what to tackle next :)
Tumble Home: A Novella and Short Stories  The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel

At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm finally devouring the collected works of Amy Hempel, an author who has the rare feat of being a writer who focuses soley on short fiction and is well known for it.  This is the volume of her work that I was most looking forward to, mostly because outside of a few of the stories I had a hard time finding this book on it's own.
The story that I was most familiar with prior to this is The Harvest.  It's one that Chuck Palahniuk discusses over and over as being pure brilliance, and I can see exactly why that is.  Aside from just being well written, the story in and of itself, is practically a deconstruction of storytelling itself.  And it catches us off guard in such a wonderful way.
There is another story here, The Most Girl Part of You, that I read this morning while on the streetcar and it did one of those rare things where I was transported.  Time didn't exist.  I was in the story, living breathing it - this was easily my favorite of the collection for that reason alone.
I find it a little frustrating to read a collection of short stories.  Every few pages you're asked to 'reset' and start again, and depending what you're coming out of - that's difficult.  I'll put the book down until the end of the long weekend and then continue on.  Should cleanse the palette nicely.  I described Amy to a friend of mine today as a writer whose stories I didn't always get into, but whose writing I almost always did.  It's a bizarre thing - she has this tendency to be telling a story, but then drift into a tangent - sometimes never to return.  I'm sure that's exactly what some people love about her - but for me it's a slight pet peeve.
Halfway through Amy's collection - looking forward to the remaining volumes.  If you're looking to getting into writing in any capacity you could do a lot worse than study this woman.
At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom 1st Edition Inscribed  At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom: Stories  The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel

Reasons to Live

 I first came to discover Amy Hempel through reading and reading about Chuck Palahniuk.  As many people of my generation who marveled at Fight Club the film it wasn't long before we dove into the source material and everything that was Palahniuk.  I've got some pretty specific thoughts on him, but this isn't the place for that - I've got his newest book in my stack of things to read, so I'll get to him there. 
When I first heard about Amy it was about how much her writing (in a positive way) was devastating.  And so like I do with anything, I sought out to buy everything she'd done.  At that time she'd had three books come out and one of them was extremely rare.  Picked them up, and I've read them in bits and pieces over the years - and then when her newest book came out a few years back I did the same with it.  But there was almost the mysterious hard-to-find other volume.  So when the collection of her work was published I picked it up even though I already owned 75% of it.  That's just the kind of guy I am.
So now that I'm trying to be more disciplined about reading I added Amy's books to my stack, and I'm going to read them all back to back, starting with this lovely collection. 
Like I'd mentioned, I've read some of this prior, but it was nice to revisit the volume as a whole.  I can't say that I noticed any grand arching theme (apologies if I was meant to).  I find Amy's writing interesting in that I'm either super engrossed, or I'm a little 'meh'.  Not about the writing - never about the writing.  The woman can spin a phrase to knock you on your ass with emotions.  I find that some  of the subject matter just doesn't interest me and so I don't always connect to the story she's telling.  Needless to say, they aren't all 'for me', but the ones that are, the ones that I connect with, I connect with every inch of my core.  Like advertised, she'll make you laugh in one moment and then devastate you the next with phrases like, "Here's a trick I found for how to finally get some sleep.  I seep in my husband's bed.  That way the empty bed I look at is my own. ...  I had my own bed.  I slept in it alone, except for those times when we needed - not sex - but sex was how we got there."
If you're a writer of any kind you'd be remiss not to pick up the collection of Amy's work, especially considering how affordable it is.  Stay tuned for my thoughts on the other three volumes - the next is At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom, and it's the volume that I could not find a copy of no matter how hard I tried.  Words cannot express how delighted I am to finally dive into it.
Reasons to Live  The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel  The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel