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Rating: 
Summary: Count Carlson among the top short story writers working toda
Review: A story should either make you laugh or cry. Ron Carlson's stories do both. I don't know how else to describe his stories other than comparison -- he's as poignant as Andre Dubus, as funny as Lee K. Abbott and John Dufresne, as insightful as Charles Baxter and Lynne Barrett, and has an eye for detail like William Trevor or Alice Munro. Though he's not a minimalist, Carlson doesn't waste a word to sentimentality or a scene to gratuitous fluff. His stories are chiseled out of granite. A great collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Keith Is Aces
Review: I found myself very entertained by Carlson's collection of stories, Hotel Eden. A lot of people insisted that I check out his work, and I'm so glad I did. What I found in Hotel Eden was a collection of stories with characters from every walk of life. They were so different, yet so real that I found it hard to believe they lived only on the page and in my mind.Any reader of Hotel Eden will appreciate Carlson's tight and poetic writing that has the ability to snatch you into - at times - bizarre storylines, like the story Zanduce at Second, about a baseball player who has killed 11 spectators with his stinging foul shot and finds an almost blood thirsty thrill in regaining his former playing prowess. In a collection, I would expect to find a few great stories, but in Hotel Eden, I found 12 wonderful stories filled with intriguing characters, fascinating plotlines and a mixture of humor and reality (a sometime sobering thing). I would definitely recommend Hotel Eden to those interested in reading great literature that is ENTERTAINING.
Rating:
Summary: A Collection of stories that will entertain and move you
Review: I found myself very entertained by Carlson's collection of stories, Hotel Eden. A lot of people insisted that I check out his work, and I'm so glad I did. What I found in Hotel Eden was a collection of stories with characters from every walk of life. They were so different, yet so real that I found it hard to believe they lived only on the page and in my mind. Any reader of Hotel Eden will appreciate Carlson's tight and poetic writing that has the ability to snatch you into - at times - bizarre storylines, like the story Zanduce at Second, about a baseball player who has killed 11 spectators with his stinging foul shot and finds an almost blood thirsty thrill in regaining his former playing prowess. In a collection, I would expect to find a few great stories, but in Hotel Eden, I found 12 wonderful stories filled with intriguing characters, fascinating plotlines and a mixture of humor and reality (a sometime sobering thing). I would definitely recommend Hotel Eden to those interested in reading great literature that is ENTERTAINING.
Rating:
Summary: Ron Carlson is magnificient
Review: I had the pleasure of hearing Ron Carlson speak to my Junior English class in high school. He captured my attention then and he did it again with his brilliant stories found in The Hotel Eden. I appreciate his tenacity in writing and his keen understanding of his characters. He is a gifted writer. If you have time to read short stories, this is the book to buy. Each story will fulfill your expectations.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended collection of short stories
Review: I usually do not read short stories--never found anything to approach the experience of reading someone like Katherine Anne Porter. However, Ron Carlson has produced his own quirky "magic" with some of his stories in The Hotel Eden. Carlson looks at us and then writes stories about our behavior. So what? Most writers can do this OK. The difference for Carlson's stories may lie in his grace of how carefully he looks at us and reads between the lines of our everyday behavior. What we may get from his stories is something more funny or more sad than we ever knew. Good--honest writing with little artifice or fill.
Rating:
Summary: Keith Is Aces
Review: If you were to tell me there is a story more perfect than "Keith," I'd say you were wrong. Twelve solid short stories make up this collection, and although some are superior to others, they're all worth reading. I'll break it down story by story, on scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best. The Hotel Eden - 3. Saw the ending from the get-go, and the ride isn't all that amazing.
Keith - 5+!
The Prisoner of Bluestone - 4. Solid story.
Zanduce at Second - 4. Strange story, but it works. The House Goes Up - 3. Didn't do much for me.
What We Wanted to Do - 5. Carlson does George Saunders and it's very good, very funny.
The Chromium Hook - 5. The gradual discovery of interconnection (a sense of community) between the characters is done fabulously. Also very funny.
A Note on the Type - 4. Another strange story that works. Carlson's good at taking extraordinary situations and making them believable.
Nightcap - 5. Maybe I'm just a sucker for baseball.
Dr. Slime - 3. Didn't do much for me. The story is about a baker, but it doesn't feel right. It reads like a writer writing in the voice of a baker; I was never able to completely believe the voice.
Down the Green River - 2. Did little for me.
Oxygen - 5. Probably the best story after Keith. Powerful stuff; the retrospective voice works well.
Rating:
Summary: This book is absolutely aces.
Review: or any of the masters of the short story genre, stay away from this book. never have i been so underwhelmed by a collection of short stories that i was compelled to write. the stories and dialogue are limp and ineffectual. the characters shallow and boring. EVERY single story left me flat. where is the authentic, honest hilarity? the imaginative vigor the book jacket states? obviously somewhere else for it is surely not in Carlson's stories. to see where Carlson is coming from, i offer you this quote" I write about personal experiences whether i've had them or not." what sort of metaphorical pap is this? it sounds as if Carlson has spent entirely too much time in bad workshop groups where "there are no bad writers,just bad writing." i am utterly awestruck that these flaccid stories were published anywhere. as my grandfather was fond of saying, "Save Yer Dough."
Rating:
Summary: His Best Collection Ever
Review: The Hotel Eden is possibly Carlson's best collection of short stories ever. This is a fine example of an author in his element of short stories--they are engaging and funny, even fascinating. "The Hotel Eden" is actually my least favorite in the collection (but it's still nothing to look down at). However, I'm somewhat fond of "The Chromium Hook" (an out-take of the popular urban legend) and "Dr. Slime." I wouldn't be going far to say that this collection is genius! Read it.
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