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The Spot (2010)

by David Means(Favorite Author)

3.36 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0865479127 (ISBN13: 9780865479128)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Faber & Faber

review 1: I realized pretty early on that I'd read a couple of these stories before in "The New Yorker." Means is a fierce, heady writer, who spins uncomfortable, looming tales of criminals and misfits and the folks on just the other side of your last passing thought. He can set up an ominous, haunted vibe in three paragraphs or less that will take a couple of solidly sunny hours to dispel. I found myself wishing he'd kept entirely to the exploits bank robbers and hobos and junkies on the wrong side of reason. I didn't enjoy the well-heeled, New York-area suburban ennui stores as much (though, to be fair, I'm a hard sell on those at all these days), but his transitions from the polite concerns of those stories the skittering ledge brutality of the others makes for a bracing ... moreread.
review 2: My favorite story writer out there and it's not even close. His lyricism and endlessly inventive structural choices make his stories so exciting. They're also just violent and weird in such a wonderful way. This collection starts a little slow, but the last 8 stories are phenomenal, especially the title story. I highly recommend this as well as his collections "Assorted Fire Events" and "The Secret Goldfish." less

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