Emerald City and Other Stories by Jennifer Egan
Corsair (e-book), 1996
192 Pages
I borrowed this e-book from my library and read it on my Kobo. I got way too excited when I discovered I could do this.
OPENING SENTENCE
It was him, no question. (WHY CHINA?)
REVIEW
This collection features eleven stories from Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer prize-winner for her novel A Visit from the Good Squad. This is her first collection.
A few years ago I belonged to a reading group and one month we read A Visit from the Good Squad. I remember opening the book and moving the pages but have no memory of what the book was about. Weird. I listened to other women discuss it at the group and didn’t recognize anything they said. Double weird. Since then Egan has been on my list of authors to check out. I’ve got several of her titles I want to read, some of which I can borrow in ebook from the library (have I told you how much I LOVE that I can do this?)
I thought this was a great collection of stories. I enjoyed every story. Like every collection, I had a few favourites and some stood out more than others. I thought Sacred Heart was brilliant. I loved the narrator’s strange obsession with Amanda, the school rebel and the hints of lesbianism. One Piece is one of the saddest stories I’ve ever read. I cried all the way through. I also found Emerald City, the title story very sad but painfully true. Spanish Winter was moving but sort of creepy as well. The other stories were excellent but these stories had a tiny bit more spark.
RATING
