'man Vs Nature' By Diane Cook (Modern Fables, Weird, Short Stories, Good!)

GoingHome · Apr 10, 2015

You guys should definitely check this chick out.

One of the few really good collections of short stories I've read in years!

Read it all in one sitting and then re-read 3 of the stories immediately afterwards!

One was a bit too 'icky' for my taste, but I was blown out of the water by the rest.

This woman can write!

"The characters in Cook’s debut story collection inhabit isolated worlds, bubbles where scores of children are kidnapped and the police don’t notice; where, in keeping with the sharp title story, lost fishermen wait for rescue after a pleasure trip goes awry; and where unwanted boys take to a deserted forest and live out a Lord of the Flies–style tragedy. There’s also an intense fear of the outside world lurking throughout. In “Flotsam,” a woman considers installing an alarm system after random clothing regularly appears in her dryer. “Marrying Up” finds a woman constantly remarrying after her husbands are murdered by groups of riotous thugs occupying the outdoors. And “The Mast Year” chronicles the life of a young woman who, after a string of good fortune, becomes a talisman for the less privileged that arrive at her front door, hoping her luck will rub off. Quirkiness abounds, with several fairy-tale tropes thrown in for good measure (“A Wanted Man,” concerning a lothario known for impregnating neighborhood women, even begins, “There once was a man...”). Some stories jump off the page, others falter, yet all are oddly charming. (Oct.)"
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^^Publisher's Weekly review^^

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'man Vs Nature' By Diane Cook (Modern Fables, Weird, Short Stories, Good!)

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'man Vs Nature' By Diane Cook (Modern Fables, Weird, Short Stories, Good!)

GoingHome Further Within

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