A beautiful collection of ruminations on what it means to feel lonely. It was a delight to read the different interpretations and perspectives on loneliness and how loneliness intersects with sadness, joy, grief, anxiety, self-discovery, relationships, etc. Reading this left me feeling content and contemplative. The Lonely Stories features 22 stories, mostly original and a few previously published. My favorite original stories were “Javelinas” by Claire Dederer which chronicles the author’s rela...

'the lonely stories' is exactly what it sounds like: a series of short stories about loneliness, but it’s so much greater than you think.nothing fills me with more self pity than being alone, and this year especially, i've found myself feeling more lonely than i usually do. as someone who is generally shy and quiet, there is nothing i hate more in the world than being lonely, than feeling like i’m unwanted or neglected in my social circles, but there is also nothing i love more, nothing i crave

The Lonely Stories is a series of essays about the joys and struggles of being alone. There are 22 stories in this collection, some heart breaking, some lovely. These stories made me think and some hit close to home. As with any anthology or collection, some of the stories were not ones I enjoyed, but others I absolutely loved. My favourites in this collections were: "Javelinas" by Claire Dederer, "At the Horizon" by Maggie Shipstead, "Exodus 2020" by Emily Raboteau and "On Witness and Respair"

When I invited people, I typically would offer up various prompts. I definitely made it clear from the beginning that I was interested in [pieces] that explored the ways in which alone time can be maddening and isolating and painful, but also pieces that explored the ways in which alone time can be a thrill, or a joy, or something that you crave but can’t access, which I think a lot of people also experienced during the pandemic. There was this simultaneous excess of loneliness and then absence

Didn't make the impact I was hoping for. The connection isn't there. The writing seems abrupt for most stories. Different authors, different stories but the writing all felt the same.✔️Alone but not lonely but reading about lonely.

One might imagine that a book about loneliness will explore the ways our increasingly isolated lives cause so much suffering, which is certainly a necessary exploration. What is unexpected and enormously compelling about this essay collection is how it demonstrates that loneliness isn’t always about the absence of people; it’s also about the distances we choose to put between ourselves and places, experiences, or even our true natures (or how those distances sometimes choose us). The loneliness

So many things said in here hit very hard. Really liked the concept.

*Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*In a lovely collection of essays tackling loneliness, we see varying voices exploring grief, heartache, loss, racism, xenophobia, poverty, parenthood, chronic illness, etc. While we still go about our day-to-day lives in a seemingly never ending pandemic, reading about the hope that comes out in the different understandings of loneliness featured in this collection helped put into words some things I'd been grappling wi...

What a brilliant concept to collect stories about all the varied configurations of loneliness and aloneness, written by literary geniuses, and market it during a global pandemic! Each of these stories is fabulous on its own, none of them are similar, and reading all of them together has given me a cohesive feeling of calm. Which is not what I was expecting at all. Cultural isolation I expected, and lonely hearts, but I'd never thought about gender differences in terms of being alone. I really ap...

Thank you to Catapult, Counterpoint, Softskull and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!Available April 19th.Isolation is a term most of us are very familiar with these days. We are told to isolate from our jobs, our elderly, our children, our vulnerable, our schools and institutions. We are told to go into lockdown and quarentines. Yet what do these words really mean?The Lonely Stories captures the quintessential emotion of our current era, the longing ache, the ugliness, and, in some cases...

Even though the title is a good description about the stories, it doesn't describe how many way people look at being alone. It's not always a sad way but it is always a way to grow and to change ones life. Every one of the stories is a heartfelt place where the author was willing to go while writing their story. I like every one of the story because in each story the author takes you on a journey that makes you look at your own aloneness and how you feel about being alone. The stories will take

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!These stories were so raw and honest explaining how each writer has experienced their own form of "loneliness". It really made me think about how I process being lonely and what that looks like to me and how do I feel during this time. With many of the stories, I could relate to their feelings. I very much appreciated a few of the stories that referenced they preferred being alone then going out. I have felt that and this helped to show that it is ok. E...

Agh, this was somehow a wonderful and horrible anthology to read these past few months. A lot of the authors wrote these short stories (or more aptly mini 'memoirs') while stuck at home and the writing (and even the narratives) range from middling to mind-blowing. But hot damn, this collection as a whole was a punch to the stomach. Depending on your mood, the authors' observations will either catapult you into the realm of existential dread or their musings will serve as a reminder that feelings...

I saw Anthony Doerr.

Whew. That was pretty heavy. I wish I hadn't read it in one sitting, mostly because it got a bit repetitive, and I feel like it would have been sweeter over the course of a few days. Definitely something it's best to be in the mood for. This book of personal essays from established authors about loneliness leans into the experience of the exceptional — but it's melancholy with a twinge of hope for the rest of us. It opened my mind to the beauty of enjoying my own presence. Favorites include essa...

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was drawn to the idea of “The Lonely Stories: 22 Celebrated Writers on the Joys & Struggles of Being Alone” because I’m no stranger to the feeling of loneliness. Whether it was feeling left out of activities as a kid because of my disability or the heartbreak of being “ghosted” in my early 20s. But, I just couldn’t get into the book. All of the essays were written well and covered a variety of topics that I think will resonate wi...