Monsters: a collection of short stories

These are unforgettable characters rendered through silence, humor, and violence. With the grit of Raymond Carver, the humor of Grace Paley, and a blend of wit and melancholy all her own, Berlin crafts miracles from the everyday, uncovering moments of grace in the Laundromats and halfway houses of the American Southwest, in the homes of the Bay Area upper class, among switchboard operators and struggling mothers, hitchhikers and bad Christians. Such richly fraught mother-daughter relationships can be lifelines, anchors, or they can sink a woman like a stone.

Nowhere are these qualities more ingeniously brought together than in the works of short fiction she wrote throughout her life. Chaon mines the psychological landscape of his characters to dazzling effect. Each story radiates with sharp humor, mystery, wonder, and startling compassion.

What if we discovered that the fundamentals of mathematics were arbitrary and inconsistent? What if there were a science of naming things that calls life into being from inanimate matter? What if exposure to an alien language forever changed our perception of time? What if all the beliefs of fundamentalist Christianity were literally true, and the sight of sinners being swallowed into fiery pits were a routine event on city streets?

These are the kinds of outrageous questions posed by the stories of Ted Chiang. Sometimes you find you have crossed an invisible line and must cope, as best you can, with petulant princesses, vengeful owls, ladies who pass their time embroidering terrible fates or with endless paths in deep, dark woods and houses that never appear the same way twice. Strange himself and the Raven King. Here, in small-town Massachusetts, after more than a decade of boom and bust, everyone is struggling to find their own version of the American dream: Doerr explores the human condition in all its varieties—metamorphosis, grief, fractured relationships, and slowly mending hearts—conjuring nature in both its beautiful abundance and crushing power.

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Some of the characters in these stories contend with hardships; some discover unique gifts; all are united by their ultimate deference to the ravishing universe outside themselves. In her debut collection of short fiction, Due takes us to Gracetown, a small Florida town that has both literal and figurative ghost; into future scenarios that seem all too real; and provides empathetic portraits of those whose lives are touched by Otherness. Without abandoning the tenets of classic storytelling, Elliott revels in lush lyricism, dark humor, and experimental play. In these stories, Evenson unsettles us with the everyday and the extraordinary—the terror of living with the knowledge of all we cannot know.

In the hands of master storyteller Everett, the act of questioning leads to vistas more strange and unsettling than could ever have been expected. In July of , in Hardin County, Ohio, a boy sees ghosts. A teenage runaway and her mute brother seek salvation in houses, buses, the backseats of cars. Preteen girls dial up the ghosts of fat girls. A crew of bomber pilots addresses the ash of villagers below.

A medical procedure reveals an object of worship. A carnivorous reptile divides and cauterizes a town. Crime is a motif—sex crimes, a possible murder, crimes of the heart. She had to admit that he was right. There had been chocolate skulls and severed fingers at the checkout at Marks and Spencer. None of these things had been there a few years ago. It was just an opportunity for the sweet manufacturers to make more money. Since when had pumpkins ever been part of the English diet? Good old pumpkin pie, anyone?

It was ridiculous, and a waste of food, really. She was sure that people would just scoop out the contents and throw them away. And finally this trick-or-treating. This year she had a tin of Roses out in the hall. Sarah finished her drink. She flicked on the TV and watched half of Eastenders, barely concentrating on the plot. No sign of Mike. Nothing from the children. Simon had a mobile with him and would call her if there was any problem but the silence was still worrying. It was so dark outside. The council had cut back on street lighting — she was sure of it — and as you went down the hill towards the river it sometimes felt that you were leaving civilisation behind you.

Suppose the children went down that way? There were too few houses to make it worthwhile. They would be somewhere nearby. They would have started with the five neighbouring houses and then moved on to one of the other estates. For a moment she was tempted to ring them but decided against it. It would spoil their fun. Worse still, they might not answer and what would she do then? A pair of headlights swung across the room and at the same time she heard a car pull up in the drive. She went over to the kitchen window and pulled back the net curtains. He had finally arrived. She could tell from his movements that it had been another bad day.

She sometimes wondered if anything would ever be enough. He looked tired with his dark hair now thinning, pale-blue eyes, downturned face. He had pulled down his tie and opened his collar. He was putting on weight. She wondered when he had begun to look as defeated as this — but then who was she to talk? She had seen the crow lines forming around her own eyes, the looseness around her lips and cheeks. A third gin and tonic for her. He came in to the kitchen and slumped at the table. But of course the children did go to No 29, to the house at the very end of Stratfield Lane.

While in the market of Perfil, she sells Onion to someone who says they will take him to the Wizards of Perfil. For some reason, they bring Onion right back and take Halsa instead. Once Halsa is there, she discovers that the Wizards are incredibly vain and super lazy.

But there is something that neither Onion or Halsa knows about the wizards.

Short Stories | S.G. Browne

Jeremy's mother and father have some problems getting along because Jeremy's father is a writer. When his father puts Jeremy in one of his books and then kills him off, his mother insists that she and Jeremy go to Las Vegas to see the wedding chapel she has inherited from her late sister. But Jeremy is afraid that he'll miss the next spontaneous episode of The Library!

The Faery Handbag - Genevieve's grandmother, Zofia, has a mysterious handbag that is apparently a family heirloom and over years old. She never lets the bag out of her sight. Zofia tells Genevieve crazy stories about how a whole little village lives in that bag, and a nasty dog, too. If you open it up and aren't careful, you could get sucked into the handbag and not come out for years, even if you are only in the bag for one day.

When Zofia dies, Genevieve is to be the keeper of the bag, but once Zofia is gone Genevieve can't find the handbag anywhere. The Specialist's Hat - Samantha and Claire are identical twins who live with their father on the second story of a huge house. Their father is writing the history of the Eight Chimneys where they are currently living.

Samantha and Claire have a babysitter who tells them about The Specialist, who apparently goes around the house killing people and that she herself used to live there and has seen The Specialist when she was younger. Things get a little creepy when The Specialist himself shows up that night. Monster - Bungalow 6 has to go on their campout before camp ends for the summer. It's pouring out but they still want to go. The boys from Bungalow 4 say they saw a monster and they are determined to see it. James Lorbick is kind of the loser of the cabin, and Bryan Jones dares him to put on a dress once they've set up camp.

He puts it on and ends up wearing it most of the night. When their counselor, Terence, goes down the hill to help out a female camper, the monster shows up The Surfer - Dorn is kidnapped by his father and taken to Costa Rica to see the elusive Hans Bliss, who was picked up by aliens years before and was told that they would come back to Earth some day.

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After landing in Costa Rica, they are quarantined because of the flu pandemic that has been killing for quite some time now. Back in Abal, ghosts were quite the fashion. Zilla made them that way, but in Brid Ozma's mother acts like she despises ghosts and makes Ozma dress as a boy. Pretty Monsters - Lee and her friends Nikki, Maureen, and Bad capture Czigany and not on purpose her sister, Parci, for Czigany's "ordeal" which is a ritual in their all-girls school.

While on Lee's aunt's farm, Lee keeps pulling out her current book about a girl named Clementine and a boy named Cabell. I enjoyed each of these stories. A few of them were so far-fetched and crazy! You can definitely tell that Ms. Link has a crazy imagination, which is incredibly awesome. I think my favorite story of the bunch was Monster.

The ending of that one was just so strange to me, and also sort of funny. If you're in the mood for some crazy out-of-this-world stories, then this book is definitely for you. This would be a great one to read during the Halloween season because of all the spooky aspects and whatnot. Dec 10, Rachel rated it did not like it Shelves: One night, I read the first story and thought, "This is fun and original! I read the second story that same night and thought, "Wow, I may be in love with Kelly Link! I went to bed, went to work the next day, and recommended this book to everyone who may be interested, antsy to get home and keep reading.

My enthusiasm waned a little bit at the beginning of "Magic for Beginners". I thought, "There's a lot of quirk here for the sake of quirk, and this story is not making a lot of sense. These One night, I read the first story and thought, "This is fun and original! These pop culture references are also making me want to die. I made it to about halfway through "Surfer" when, realizing that the problems I have with Link's writing would never get better and my annoyance had reached fever pitch, I had to put the book down.

Over half of the way through. I hate when that happens. Especially after I've told almost every freaking person I have regular contact with how awesome a book is. Kelly Link is a good story teller. Her stories have great beginning hooks, her plots on bare paper are interesting, and her ambiguous endings often give me a chill, even if I find the story that came before tedious. But I cannot stand the extraneous details, the contemporary references, and the overly clever paragraphs that have no purpose in the story except to be quirky and "original," all serving to obscure what could otherwise be a good tale.

I wonder if I would enjoy an adult collection of Link's short stories, since this is technically YA. I'd be open to trying it. Nov 12, Scott rated it it was amazing Shelves: In a series of 9 stories, I liked 7 a whole bunch, 1 a little bit, and 1 not at all. Even when I didn't like a story or found it ok, I was awed by Kelly Link's writing. I have read a ton of great books by great writers.

Pretty Monsters: Stories

Link surpasses every single one of those writers by a mile, at least. She's so compelling readable and every one of her words and thoughts are pitch perfect I just don't know how I haven't read anything by her before. In fact, I'm em In a series of 9 stories, I liked 7 a whole bunch, 1 a little bit, and 1 not at all. In fact, I'm embarrassed I haven't. Two of the stories, "Magic for Beginners" and "The Surfer" were among the best things I have ever read.

She has a style that is like a cross between J. Rowling and Daniel Handler Lemony Snickett. She mixes fantasy and absurd humor in a beautiful, magical mixture that also seems to explore deeper truths about our reality. And the ending of the title story, "Pretty Monsters" tried a little to hard. It was ok, but the rest of the story deserved so much more.

This book is amazing. Filled with surprises and thrills on every page. And Kelly Link may now be my favorite writer. Jun 09, Nicholas Kaufmann rated it it was amazing. Another winning collection from Kelly Link, as full of wit, charm, and sophisticated storytelling as her others. The stories skew a bit younger here, but Link's trademark surrealism and underlying darkness are still present, which means adults will enjoy the collection as much as young adults. Shaun Tan's illustrations add a nice touch. Choosing a favorite story in a Link collection is always hard, but the title story, "Pretty Monsters," really blew me away.

It's a tour de force. The similarly n Another winning collection from Kelly Link, as full of wit, charm, and sophisticated storytelling as her others. The similarly named "Monster" and "The Wizards of Perfil" both stuck with me as well. Now that I've read and loved all four of Link's collections, I find myself impatiently awaiting a fifth. Feb 23, Heather Ingemar rated it it was ok Recommends it for: She's obviously a talented writer! But, with every story I read, I found myself wondering when she would get to the point. And when the beauty of the short story form is that it is fast-paced and exciting, having stories that meander around the point and lollygag around becomes extremely frustrating for the reader.

Sep 17, Erin rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Linked from my blog over at www. Kelly Link writes strange stories. They take all the things you know about genres and twist them up until they become nearly unrecognizable, and suddenly real. This is not in a far away land a long time ago. This latest collection, Pretty Monsters, is geared toward teens, and populated by young protagonists, each with their own collection of confusions about identity and relationships. These are woven with skillful curiosity into narratives of the strange, where in addition to the challenges of growing up, there are ghosts to catch, monsters to flee from, and wizards who want their dinner.

But, whatever the characters encounter, an intimate knowledge of emotion takes the forefront. Though the apt juxtaposition of the teenage years with fantasy and horror is not an innovation, Link keeps it fresh each time. Strange can be humorous, scary, sweet, intense or all of these at once, just like being a teenager.

Word play and the quotable turn of phrase are frequent features. Some of the stories take place in our own world, or nearly enough. In those with settings that are different, world building is subtly interspersed so as not to interrupt the flow of the story. The reader catches on little by little, trying to solve the riddle of the place. If there is fault to be found, it may be that some stories end abruptly or split off into unexpected directions.

For those who find this disorienting, I offer a thought from Jeremy Mars, protagonist of the story titled Magic for Beginners: Jeremy supposes that [the ever-changing casting in his favorite show, The Library] could be perpetually confusing, but instead it makes your brain catch on fire. My gray matter is certainly singed. A highly recommended collection for anyone, teen or adult, with a taste for the strange. Jan 09, Alicia rated it it was ok Shelves: I only read 6 of the 9 short stories in this book.

Usually, I feel obligated to finish a book even if I'm not enjoying it so much, but because these were short stories, there was nothing tying me to it. I enjoyed at least a part of each story. I loved the voice and concept of Magic for Beginners. However, I was ultimately dissatisfied by where each story went and how each story ended. They seemed careless rather than haunting. Apr 06, Megan rated it really liked it Shelves: I read one of Kelly Link's other books, Magic for Beginners , way back in January and I only gave it three stars.

Complete with bonus debate on the term 'magic-realism' thanks to Caris. I just couldn't get into it, and I felt bad, because I felt as though something in all of those stories was just waiting for me to grasp. Well, it's kind of another go. I was kind of disappointed when I opened up the book and immediately had to flip halfway through it to find something I hadn't read already.

Good thing I didn't buy it or I would have felt a bit cheated. However, I was happy to see that the stories I was unfamiliar with were good. They drew me in, in exactly the way none of the stories in Magic for Beginners could. My favorite was "The Constable of Abal," which could easily have been an entire book - I was left wanting more from those characters and that world. Kelly Link has one other anthology, Stranger Things Happen , actually her first.

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I think I'll check that one out, too. Aug 29, Jennifer rated it really liked it Recommends it for: I'm not sure I like Link's stories as much as I admire them.

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I like a linear narrative, and Link is non-linear. I like a strong resolution, preferably happy yes, I read like a 12 year old girl while most if not all of Link's stories are open-ended. I like my fantasy grounded in reality, while Link's stories are nothing if not surreal. But though I have only read two of these previously published stories before, I was surprised at how many times I went back to see how she constructed characters I'm not sure I like Link's stories as much as I admire them.

But though I have only read two of these previously published stories before, I was surprised at how many times I went back to see how she constructed characters and plot or deconstructed them. Her images are haunting, her meta-fiction themes are brilliant, but I have to say, I don't think I will be seeking out any more of Link's work, because frankly, it was a lot of work to get through them!

While it was a challenging and edifying experience, I wouldn't call it an enjoyable one. I guess Margo Lanagan is more my style in terms of speculative fiction Also at Reading Rants: Feb 12, Shannon rated it did not like it Shelves: Shannon Miranda Short Story Genre This is a book made up of short stories and the continuing theme is either fantasy, horror or science fiction. Unfortunately, the book was disappointing. Many of the stories started out to be so interesting and creative yet, would then end abruptly. It is as if the author had writers block or ran out of steam while writing and decided to make the stores short instead of finishing them.

It is a shame because a few had such potential to be more than the way they wer Shannon Miranda Short Story Genre This is a book made up of short stories and the continuing theme is either fantasy, horror or science fiction. It is a shame because a few had such potential to be more than the way they were presented. I would not recommend this book because it could be frustrating reading a story that only has a beginning and middle but no end.

A very unfulfilling book. Apr 02, Lis rated it it was amazing Shelves: My favorites were the one about the handbag and the one about the surfer and the aliens. Jan 09, Amy rated it liked it Shelves: It's an anthology out of which I could enjoy only this many stories. The rest are scattered in their intention and plot. Feb 20, Scout Maria rated it it was amazing Shelves: I can see why these stories are categorized as YA but they certainly aren't immature. I'd say this is my favorite of Link's collections that I've read.

A variety of genres horror, magical realism, fantasy, science fiction that showcase Link's many strengths. May 05, Danielle rated it liked it. I originally picked up Pretty Monsters because of the kick-ass cover, and I actually considered bying it because the inside cover was adorned with glowing blurbs from some of my favorite authors, such as Holly Black, Alice Sebold, Garth Nix and Libba Bray.