Rating: 
Summary: Very cute not-quite-Stories.
Review: A collection of cute, but not spectacular, not-quite-stories. Bender writes a group of seemingly unrelated scenarios. Each one takes place within a couple of hours or a day or two... and each one encompasses an average of 10-15 pages - making for a light, entertaing read.A few of the stories stand out in my mind... but the rest just blend together.
--- One story tells about a rich girl in a fancy dress that follows a man home... blah blah... it kind of dragged on.
--- One story tells of a woman's lover who biologically regresses to a single celled organism - symbolic i guess, but kind of weird.
--- A story about a woman who recieves a mysterious gift in the mail (a bowl), lacks explanation.
--- One story tells about the strange occurance with a woman giving birth... just weird.
--- The librarian story... was GREAT and funny. It made me smile.
--- The Fugue tells several different tales in one, but then they all seem to connect in an incredible way - this was my favorite... very profound and beautiful. All in all, most of these stories were just average... but a few stood out to make it an OK read.
Some short story books i prefer:
"Smoke and Mirrors" by Neil Gaiman.
"Complete Poems & Short Stories" by Dorothy Parker.
"The New F*&@ You" edited by Eileen Myles.
"Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy" by Tim Burton. Check out "Girl in Flammable Skirt" ... but those i recommended above as well!
Rating: 
Summary: Stories That Take You Into Another World
Review: A young author, fresh out of graduate school, Ms. Bender offers a collection of short stories which cannot be categorized, written in a style which cannot be labelled. While she is writing about relationships in much the same way as countless other authors, Bender adds a magical twist to her stories. In one of her stories a man discovers that a hole has developed in his midsection. Not an ulcer, but an actual hole, like a donut. Another story features a librarian who lures quiet readers one at a time into her backroom for a few minutes of wild, uninhibited sex. And yet another story focuses on a boyfriend who is undergoing a type of reverse evolution. Bender's strength is that she doesn't allow this gimmicky style to control her writing. Her stories are as well-written and entertaining as they are imaginative.
Rating:
Summary: take it or leave it
Review: Aimee Bender's stories are perhaps some of the strangest being published in contemporary literature. With her surreal touch and a nod toward the Brother Grimm, this, her first collection, reads like a series of quick dreams - some disturbing, some funny, and all without regard to the laws of reality. The opening story, "Call My Name", begins the collection with the promise of convention, albeit it an off-kilter one, when a woman follows a man home, hoping to seduce him, only to discover that he has a simple but strange desire that only marginally involves her. While the emotions and situation in this story are odd, they don't prepare the reader for the first line of the next story, "Steven returned from the war without lips." None of Bender's characters are whole, whether they have an actually soccer-ball size hole in their stomachs ("Marzipan"), whether they are imps and mermaids in cognito ("Drunken Mimi"), or whether they are grieving for loved ones. In "Quiet Please," a librarian whose father has just died fulfills the librarian fantasies of several male patrons until she meets one whose extraordinary feats of strength finally exposes her emotional pain. In a line that applies to all the stories, the librarian acknowledges that "it's hard to tell the difference between fantasy and reality." These odd, rambunctious, and startling stories are not for the literal-minded, but they will charm those who like their short fiction with an irreverent edge.
Rating:
Summary: More Than Quirky and Offbeat; Downright Bizarre
Review: Aimee Bender's volume of short stories, THE GIRL IN THE FLAMMABLE SKIRT are more than quirky and offbeat...they are downright bizarre, and, most of the time, that's a good thing. Most of the stories in THE GIRL IN THE FLAMMABLE SKIRT (referring to skirts made of rayon) begin with ordinary, rather mundane happenings, such as a woman knitting sweaters for her husband who is away in a war, but soon turn into something original and totally outrageous, as that same husband coming home sans lips. And, when you think about it, why not? Bender is certainly highly original and she has loads of style plus a voice that's all her own. She's breezy, wildly imaginative and quite fast-paced. Her best stories, I think, are the ones verging on the absurd. I loved "The Healer," a story of two girls, one with a hand of fire, the other with a hand of ice. "The Ring" was also another favorite of mine. In this story, a woman steals a ruby ring that turns everything it touches, to what else? Ruby red. Almost all of the stories in this collection begin like a wild fireworks display on Chinese New Year's, but, unfortunately, not all of them carry their initial "bang" through to the end. Some just seem to trail off, as if Bender got tired of them or was simply bored and wanted to wrap things up quickly. While I think Bender's imagination and originality deserve five stars, she doesn't always give us something to think about in every story. Of course, writing absurdist fiction is very, very difficult. I love absurdism, so I really liked most of the stories in this volume whether they gave us anything life-enriching or not, but readers who like more poetic prose, rather than Bender's snappy, breezy narratives and dialogue and those who like their stories "realistic" won't find much to like here. I liked the absurdity of THE GIRL IN THE FLAMMABLE SKIRT but I wish Bender would have added a little depth to some of the stories and maintained the absurdity and the fireworks from beginning to end.
Rating: 
Summary: Whateveh
Review: Come on...what in the, who in the, huh? How could a reader come to the conclusion that these little mind splats are stories? People listen up, if you must read this book buy it used, or borrow it. Looking to spend your money buy Flannery O'Connor.
Rating:
Summary: creative head case
Review: I enjoyed these stories, but couldn't help noticing they all have some twisted perspective or another. I particularly enjoyed the story about the librarian, while at the same time being repulsed by the idea of what she had done. Many of these characters seem to act out their problems by trying to seduce men, or otherwise find fulfillment in sexual encounters. This theme seemed to run through the book rather heavily, which wasn't something that I had expected. I do think that sexual conquest is often a recurring thing for women who have problems, but couldn't help but think that this book in some way reflected some of those problems for the author. At any rate I do think the treatment of the characters is creative and engaging and despite the twisted nature of the stories, I read it straight through and enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: three and a half... the half for imagination
Review: I first read Aimee Bender in one of my creative writing classes. The story, "SKINLESS," was met in class discussion with mixed reviews, while many enjoyed her sense of imagination, a lot of people found her tale to be highly unbuyable. I agree with both of these opinions. It isn't that Bender's sense of the odd or whimsical is unbelievable, I could see without a doubt the mutant girls with hands of fire and ice, the eccentric with the surgical hunchback, and the boyfriend "experiencing reverse evolution," it's just that often, after setting up these interesting and original premises, she seems to forget the path she is taking and allows her characters to float away on whimsies and tangents, giving the stories utter lack of cohesion or a tangible meaning. Only one of the sixteen stories left me with that "now that's a good story" feeling. All of the stories had elements of what makes a story great, but unfortunatly they didn't follow through. It is virtually impossible not to admire Bender's fantastic sense of the surreal made into reality, but in many ways it seems she is trying to cram too many ideas into each story, I often found myself thinking each of the stories could have been broken down into several more. I recommend reading Bender in order to marvel at her imagination, just don't expect to feel the ultimate satisfaction often given at the end of other well crafted short stories.
Rating:
Summary: Too Weird for My Taste
Review: I know many people enjoyed this book for it's originality. Bender certainly has an incredible imagination, and her writing style is concise, descriptive and to the point. That's why I gave the book 3 stars... BUT - While I was reading, I couldn't get it out of my head that she just tried too hard to shock the reader. The stories in this book reminded me of Abstract Art - people ooh and ahh over a canvas with red paint splatters on it, saying "how original", but I just don't get it. I like to lose myself in a story, but these characters were so far removed from real life that it just didn't happen.
Rating:
Summary: I didn't use to like short stories...
Review: I never cared for short stories. And then I read this book, and halleluia, I have been converted. (a Stephen Milhauser collection and Nancy Reisman's "House Fires"also contributed to my conversion). The stories in this book (and every other Aimee Bender story I've read) are whimsical, wacky, and unexpected. Maybe that's not people want out of their stories. Maybe people are growling, "hey, give me something real!" But I was drawn in by these stories as I read them because they were so life-like! Life can be whimsical, wacky, and unexpected. It doesn't always go the way you think it would or should or even could. I like Bender's stories because they are about people who are dealing with ridiculous and difficult situations that they didn't expect to ever deal with and also about people who have weird, strange, or unusual thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Like they say, sometimes fact is stranger than fiction, and sometimes fantasy goes farther than realism in showing the way things are (just ask Mr. Tolkein). The fantastical elements that make these stories exciting and a pleasure to read (like being a kid again) also speak truth into the real world.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I stumbled upon The Girl in the Flammable Skirt about three years ago. Ms. Bender's subtle, beautifully written stories changed my life-- and the way I look at writing fiction (or nonfiction) in general. I cannot recommend this book of short stories enough. Her talent shines through, as do beautiful lines such as "a sea of me." (Read the stories to understand what I'm quoting.) Just pick it up and give it a whirl, you'll see what I mean. I can only help that more beautiful writers like Ms. Bender will show themselves.
Emily
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