Interesting story. Brockmeier is a very talented author.

This collection of short fiction begins with a story that is by turns creepy and beautifully done: "These Hands." Here's the thing about this story, though...KB has his narrator name-check Nabokov to prove that, yes, reader, yes, KB knows he's working in the vein of Lolita, and his character knows it too--but this knowledge didn't really help me to appreciate the story more. Actually, I thought KB's choice to have the child-character be an infant had already proven to me that KB was up to someth...

Very Short Review: "Apples" and "The Jesus Stories" are worth the price of admission alone.Short Review: A decent collection. I checked the book out of the library and immediately purchased it after reading "Apples," "The Jesus Stories," and "A Day in the Life of Half of Rumplestiltskin." I loved all of these, will reread them numerous times, and don't feel like saying much else about them because they're still to close to me. Though I will say that I'll always think of "Apples" whenever I heard...

This book is, in a word, beautiful. "Apples" and "The Jesus Stories" are some of my favorite short stories of all time, and I return to them often. Brockmeier's writing is light and amazing from start to finish. I was never bored, I was often touched, and I cannot recommend this novel enough. I adore magical realism, and this anthology delivers on all fronts.

Lovely line-level writing of the late 90s/early 2000s variety, but I just couldn't get myself to care about pretty much any of these stories, unfortunately.

** Read “The Ceiling” for my short essay class**Really good, a sense of losing control over your life as the world comes to an end.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7275613@...

I appreciate great description of ordinary things, and this book excels at it. Example:"Brown leaves shot with threads of red and yellow skittered across the park. They swept past merry-go-rounds and picnic tables, past heavy gray stones and rotunda bars. A man and his daughter tottered on a seesaw, a knot of sunlight shuttling along the rod between them like a bubble in a tube of water." p.24Some stories in the middle disappointed, but overall it's a fine collection. Reminds me of Aimee Bender

A beautifully strange synthesis of style. As if John Green, Don DeLillo, and Jorge Luis Borges short stories had a baby. A young adult/allegory/fablesque mesh.

After reading "The Ceiling" in an anthology of short stories, I felt compelled to pick up the collection it came from. In some ways this was a mistake--Brockmeier's other stories have difficulty living up to that first impression. Some of them do, but some were a disappointment.Of the 11 in the collection, I would say 3 were top notch. I thoroughly enjoyed "Apples", "The Ceiling", and "The House at the End of the World". The fact that I didn't love some of the other stories doesn't really surpri...

Having the opportunity to listen to Kevin Brockmeier speak about his process, his inspirations, and his craft was greatly worthwhile. But it was also extremely obvious how different he and I are. The magical realism and folktale inspired stories in this collection are not my thing. Also, a librarian wouldn't be chastised by her boss for answering a child's question, even if happened to be about pornography.

sadly, i liked the chesterton quote about fairy tales which brockmeier prefaces his book with most of all, but there are several stories that charmed me:apples, a day in the life of half rumpelstiltskin, the ceiling, the jesus stories (which bore the fragrance of borges)and the house at the end of the world. i was a little bored otherwise. i like the concepts and not the execution, i guess. "in the fairytale an incomprehensible happiness rests upon an incomprehensible condition. a box is opened,...

These did not hit me as they previously did :/

A couple really good stories and wonderful writing throughout, but for heaven's sake, man, make something happen. Too often these stories were just inert glimpses into the lives of people I didn't find all that interesting.

I read Brockmeier's novel A Brief History of the Dead and was absolutely blown away. It was a beautiful, haunting book. As a lover of the short story form, then, I couldn't wait to read this collection--but I was let down. There are a couple of really great stories, but, overall, neither the writing nor the plot conception of these stories begins to approach the masterful beauty of Brief History. I liked this book, but I didn't love it, and I thought I would, so my sense of disappointment was pr...

3.75. A little creepy but not bad for a little chap book.

While a lot of the sentences were quite heavy--a characteristic that caused me to read and re-read and re-read some paragraphs--a lot of the stories are quite fascinating. They ask the reader to internalize what is right and what is wrong, for example. When a 35-year-old male babysitter begins to call the baby under his charge his daughter, should we be frightened or saddened by this closeness? When a father has kidnapped his child and possessed her since her infancy, should we feel relieved or

A varied collection of short stories, carefully crafted and light of touch. If nothing else, a real pleasant alternative to many recent collections I have read in that there is no graphic violence, no sex, no profanity, and no irrational cruelty. I didn't know that was possible any more. But it's more than that; a number of these stories are poignant and touching. Mr. Brockmeier's protagonists often reveal themselves as innocents and earn our admiration and respect, and his perceptions of the w

These stories are extremely cerebral, and still manage to feel fragile. My personal favorite is The House at the End of the World.

I liked this collection much better than Brockmeier's second. It seemed less calculated, just honest. Several pieces reminded me so much of Millhauser's work, but still held enough of Brockmeier's voice and spirit, it seemed, that they worked out. My favorites were "These Hands," "The Ceiling," and "The Jesus Stories." I found each thought-provoking, compelling. "The Ceiling," probably had the strongest hold on me, maybe because it was slightly absurd, but the absurdism was consistent to the ver...