Subscribe to Read | $0.00
Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!
Quick and Easy Sign Up!
It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.
Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!
Quick and Easy Sign Up!
It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.
Read Anywhere and on Any Device!
Rate this book!
Write a review?
What an exceptional, stunning and creative short-story collection. Rebecca Makkai seamlessly changes voice and point-of-view for her stories: male [“Peter Torrelli, Falling Apart”], female [“Couple of Lovers on a Red Background”], varied ages [“The Worst You Ever Feel” is told from a young boy’s perspective.], races [there’s Celine, the Asian musician in “Cross”] and sexual orientation. She transports to varied times and places with ease. “The November Story” details an imagined behind-the-scen...
The best short story collections contain a paradox -- while short in print length, they can contain material of such complexity and meatiness, thus requiring more effort on the part of a reader than novels of same size. Such is the case here. Usually there is at least one story that makes the eyes roll, the impatience accelerate, but not here. Several of the stories do have music as an element, but they are handled in such a way as to demonstrate an insider's intense knowledge of the art form as...
Makkai is a fabulous writer and though I loved both of her novels, this short story collection is my favorite book by her. Obviously with any collection there will be stories that resonate more than others, but a couple of the stories rate among my favorite short stories ever. There is so much skill and emotion in these stories that it's hard not to be both impressed and moved. If you're looking for a great short story collection, I highly recommend checking out Makkai's.
I have been learning to love short stories a lot more lately because of such writers. This collection is pretty fantastic and each story touched a nerve with me. Sad is such an empty word for what the characters go through, but it's strangely beautiful too. I can't help but share some of my favorite lines."You know our whole thing about leapfrogging into someone else's body? it was like that, but like I suddenly leapfrogged into myself."..he thought of mankind as a line of miserable monkeys chai...
second story. The worst you ever feel. A young violinist watching a master play after years in a Romanian prison, is able to tell from the music what the man went through. Quite good.Third story , November. A reality show where the contestants are all artists of some kind. All sent to an artist's colony to live together. Every week has a theme and every week someone is eliminated. A good look at the behind scene staging of these shows and how it can rub off into personal lives.4th story, The Mir...
I read Rebecca Makkai's second novel, The Hundred Year House, last year and was really impressed. This collection of short stories has only confirmed my faith in her talent: although it's slightly patchy, some of them are spectacular.I'll start with 'The November Story', because I thought it was absolutely perfect. It's about a woman who's working on the production team of a reality TV show, something a bit like Big Brother except all the contestants are artists. (It's called Starving Artist.) S...
[3.5] I enjoyed these stories over several weeks but only a couple have made a lasting impression. Going back through them, I still barely remember most of them. Makkai writes about wartime, music, reality TV...the story I like the best is the the last one I read - "The Museum of the Dearly Departed." I may have rated this higher if my fleeting memory hadn't put them out of mind.
More than 4 stars, not quite 4.5...how about 4.25 stars?Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.A reality show producer. A cellist dealing with the presence of a growing shrine on her property. A minister in a town plagued by weather-related issues. A college professor for whom nothing seems to be going right. These are just a few of the characters in Rebecca Makkai's wonderful and intriguing new story collection, Music for Wa...
Late to the party on this brilliant collection and new to this acclaimed author's writing. Now I see what all the buzz is about. I read her stories in awe, knowing I will never be able to match her ability to conceive such layered, rich stories. Of the 17 stories in this book, I only skimmed one of them. I was entranced by the rest. Makkai's prose is eloquent and assured, but never too dense. Her dialog is spot on, as are her observations of human nature (how does one so young have this gift for...
4.75 stars. A beautiful collection of short stories, loosely tied together by themes of loss and sadness. I'll be thinking about some of these stories for a long time.
Even readers who typically do not enjoy short stories, I highly recommend adding Music For Wartime by Rebecca Makkai to all reading lists. Makkai’s latest release is due out in June 2015 and she has crafted some intense, thought provoking, and unforgettable stories. Typically when I read a collection of short stories I except to dislike a few, however that was not the case with Music For Wartime. Makkai’s writing is deeply moving, passionate, intense, descriptive, and not one story contained flu...
I loved Makkai's last novel, The Great Believers and immediately wanted to seek out her earlier work. I hit the bulls-eye with this story collection from 2015. The writing is excellent but I really admire how she weaves her Romanian family history into these tales, both past and present. I especially liked the story of a prized circus elephant that keels over on Main Street and transforms the town. Terrific collection.
