Get in Trouble
Ratings28
Average rating3.2
15
Ratings28
Average rating3.2
**SHE HAS BEEN HAILED BY MICHAEL CHABON** as "the most darkly playful voice in American fiction" and by Neil Gaiman as "a national treasure." Now Kelly Link's eagerly awaited new collection--her first for adult readers in a decade--proves indelibly that this bewitchingly original writer is among the finest we have.
Link has won an ardent following for her ability, with each new short story, to take readers deeply into an unforgettable, brilliantly constructed fictional universe. The nine exquisite examples in this collection show her in full command of her formidable powers. In "The Summer People," a young girl in rural North Carolina serves as uneasy caretaker to the mysterious, never-quite-glimpsed visitors who inhabit the cottage behind her house. In "I Can See Right Through You," a middle-aged movie star makes a disturbing trip to the Florida swamp where his former on- and off-screen love interest is shooting a ghost-hunting reality show. In "The New Boyfriend," a suburban slumber party takes an unusual turn, and a teenage friendship is tested, when the spoiled birthday girl opens her big present: a life-sized animated doll.
Hurricanes, astronauts, evil twins, bootleggers, Ouija boards, iguanas, *The Wizard of Oz*, superheroes, the Pyramids...These are just some of the talismans of an imagination as capacious and as full of wonder as that of any writer today. But as fantastical as these stories can be, they are always grounded by sly humor and an innate generosity of feeling for the frailty--and the hidden strengths--of human beings. In *Get in Trouble*, this one-of-a-kind talent expands the boundaries of what short fiction can do.
This description comes from the publisher.
Reviews with the most likes.
I rated it two stars initially, but I actually said out loud “Thank God” when I turned the last page, so that's not accurate.
This twee, confusing collection was a finalist for the Pulitzer, which means that even though I have a master's from Boston University and have been reading for over forty-six years, I apparently know nothing.
I feel really grumpy and out-of-sorts now. Uncomfortable. I should not feel this way after reading a book. One of the stories gave me a nightmare last night. You can tell how off I feel because I hardly ever leave reviews like this.
The Land of Oz theme park really existed. Link gets no credit for that. I went there as a child. I feel rather “get off my lawn” about this point.
Ugh. I feel weird. I need a hug and maybe a hot toddy.
Let's all make Kelly Link the most acclaimed and adored short story writer of our age, ok?
Interesting ideas and great writing. I liked the ‘weird factor' or surrealism of most of the stories, especially the ones based a bit more in the paranormal.
I feel I'm not really a fan of short stories with original characters, though, because I felt almost all were either too short to really convey the idea Link was trying to or just didn't have a cohesive structure a story needs to be satisfying. I plan on reading Link's other collections but I'm not sure I'd as yet call myself a fan.
