The Penguin Book of International Women's Stories

Rating:
Summary: Around the world in stories
Review: "The Penguin Book of International Women's Stories," edited by Kate Figes, is an anthology with a truly global sweep. Authors from every continent except Antarctica are represented. The stories represent a healthy variety of approaches--humor, horror, fairy tale, the grotesque, satire, realism, etc. There is also an excellent variety in terms of story length, ranging from a 50-page entry to stories of only 4 pages, with a nice mix of lengths in between. At over 460 pages long, it's a hefty collection.

I'll mention a few of the highlights. "The Jewess," by Irene Dische of Germany: About a German-American's trip to Germany to deal with his inheritance, this is a disturbing piece that deals with family history, Jewish identity, and the shadow of the Nazi era. "Nineteen Fifty-Five," by Alice Walker of the USA: About the relationship between an African-American female singer-songwriter and a white male performer, this is an interesting meditation on art and creativity. "A Wilderness Station," by Alice Munro of Canada: The story of a frontier wife, told in fragments from multiple voices. One of the longer selections, it's a fascinating and richly peopled story. "Distant View of a Minaret," by Alifa Rifaat of Egypt: Compact but deliciously ironic glimpse inside a marriage in Cairo. "In the Family," by Maria Elena Llano of Cuba: Macabre, witty, and humorous tale about a mirror with a supernatural power. "Broken Transformers," by Bi Shumin of China: a very down-to-earth story about the impact of an expensive child's toy on a financially struggling Chinese family.

There are many other memorable stories; other countries represented include Russia, Botswana, Japan, France, Australia, and others. A rich variety of themes are covered. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for college courses, book discussion groups, or individual reading.

Rating:
Summary: Can't we talk about something else for a change?
Review: I like anthologies because they usually expose me to authors I wouldn't have otherwise read. I got that from The Penguin Book of International Women's Stories; however, instead of reading stories by women about women, every single entry was a woman's story about a man. I expected from the title to read about something other than men, and was therefore a bit disappointed.

I did find endearing prose in "Hairball", and "You're Ugly, Too", and was pleasantly surprised by the suspenseful nature of "The Bloody Chamber". So to sum up, the book features an inappropriate title introducing some good stuff about a tired old topic.