I LOVED the first two stories in this collection--especially "Reeling for the Empire," which is this phenomenal allegory of invisible feminized labor in globalized capitalism; it has all these great things to say about gender and species and alienation, and I want everyone to read it--but the rest of the stories just didn't really do it for me. Which was a bummer, because I was so hyped up after the first two and then I felt like I was dragging myself through the rest. I first came across Karen Russell when I was researching George Saunders and watching videos of his interviews and readings on YouTube. She had a quirkiness about her that was unexpected and she seemed to be unsure of how to act and she geeked out over her love of George Saunders. Then she read an excerpt from her story “ Reeling for the Empire,” and I was stunned. The persona she puts on the page is completely different than how she is in person. But she’s intelligent and puts you in your place and is a great, solid voice for the world of fiction. I had to buy her book. In this collection the variety blew me away. It was the first time in a while that I was able to read the next story and keep going, non-stop. The title story, that focuses on a vampire struggling with a marriage. Human silkworms in “Reeling for the Empire.” Early frontier life in “Proving Up.” 1970s beach teen angst, or something, in “The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach, 1979.” The best part of this collection is the imagination that appears on the page that isn’t afraid of taking risks. It is so aware of how awkward the stories might appear, but it doesn’t back down from its personality and continues its image and world until the next story begins. There is a necessity to beat the unexpected path and take the reader down a road that immediately puts us in that particular situation and makes us think how we would act and react ourselves. Each story is colorful. Each story has some odd element of disbelief made plausible. Each story attaches human reaction with a charming and funny approach, but turns and becomes hard and real and too close to ourselves.
Do You like book Vampires In The Lemon Grove (2013)?
Some definite five-star stories in there, but a few that I didn't love. All worth reading though.
—Qball174151
