Product Description

In this collection of stories, a woman pursues an unconventional strategy for getting pregnant; a former First Lady shows despair and courage in dealing with her husband's Alzheimer's; and adult tragedy intrudes into a childhood friendship.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #114926 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Customer Reviews

Dissatisfaction
Dissatisfaction is the emotion experienced by most of the characters in this collection, but is also, unfortunately, the most likely reader response to the work.

Homes has undoubted talent, and most of the stories start well and have interesting themes. However, she doesn't seem to know where to go with many of the pieces, and the endings uniformly pack no punch at all, rather allowing the stories to peter out into forgettableness.

The two exceptions to this trend are 'Georgica', startling if only for its premise of a woman who inseminates herself using sperm found in used condoms on a beach(!), and the outstanding title story, in which all Homes' best absurdist traits are on show. Perhaps significantly, the latter is the shortest piece in the collection.

This is not a terrible book, and is probably worth about 2.5 stars, but how anyone could give it 5 is beyond me. One is tempted to recommend that those reviewers turn to some of the undisputed masters of the short form for greater delights than can be found here.

Original and unsettling
If you have read Homes' earlier short stories you will know what to expect; punchy disarming and very readable. I especially enjoyed the story about the alientated worker attempting to go home - except home is no longer what it was - and I also admired the story of the woman attempting to artificially inseminate herself with 'America's finest' using clandestine methods. Some of the stories do not seem to 'go anywhere' but that leaves you thinking.....this is not an author who wants to placate and comfort her readers...I find her very enjoyable to read as, (to use a cliche here) she really puts a mirror up to contemporary modern affluent American alienation.