Rating: 
Summary: Like a splash of cool spring water, sparkling skin and sky.
Review: I've read the book and listened to the audio tape, and highly recommend the audio tape over the book. The outstanding voice talents employed in this work dramatically improve the stories.But even these talents couldn't completely overcome an obnoxious tendency in Ethan Coen's text. Although two or three of his short stories compiled to form "Gates Of Eden" were, mercifully, devoid of grossly overused simile and syrupy prose, the rest suffered. Even in the final story about the Dakotan/Minnesotan who has beheaded his wife the clever story is somewhat spoiled by this tendency. In it the simple rural Nordic/Canadien English (Fargo-esque) speech patterns of the narrator/protagonist transforms into sophisticated flowing, poetic prose during the climax of that story. The character seemed more elegant, more real when he spoke more simply. And the story would have been more powerful if he had kept to the more native sounding speech patterns thru the climax. The detailed descriptions get in the way of some very fun stories. They take away the characters voice. About halfway thru the story about the California Weights & Measures employee, I lost the very engaging and funny visual/auditory image I had of the main character, replaced by the overwhelming, yet beautifully lyrical descriptive prose. Even on the audio tapes, William H. Macy's excellent reading of the story was overwhelmed by the display of artistic writing. I think the book is worth reading, just be prepared to be frustrated when style gets in the way of a good story. The Coen's seem to always get the balance right in their movies (well, maybe Barton Fink go lost in it's style too). But it wasn't right in this compilation of short stories. Dave Carter
Rating:
Summary: If you like his movies...
Review: If you like Ethan Coen's wacky films, and I am among their biggest fans, then you are bound to enjoy most if not all of the subject stories. Unlike most audio collections, these stories are narrated by many of the actors who have starred in Coen Brothers films such as William H. Macy, John Goodman, John Turturro and Steve Buscemi. I thought that was a great touch, and unlike another reviewer here I thoroughly enjoyed the vocal talents, never sensing that the stars had been quickly handed the stories and told to "read" by the director. As for the tales themselves, they were each very different, and ranged from typical Coen brothers slapstick crime stories to poignant tales of growing up Jewish in Minneapolis. I really enjoyed "Destiny",the story of an over-educated boxer with no fighting spirit, narrated by Matt Dillon, who becomes hopelessly involved in a battle between a couple of two bit hoods while getting pummeled throughout the story. "The Boys", a story of a father struggling to maintain his sanity on a camping trip with his two sons really struck a chord as well, since Coen displays his typical caustic wit and dead-on observations of family relationships. The stories are not for everyone, sometimes the language can get a little coarse (especially the Steve Buscemi narrated "Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland", involving a music industry executive who tries telling the police the myriad of enemies who might have tortured his dog), and those easily offended may want to look elsewhere. Even here Coen's biting sarcasm is evident, as he skewers thinly-veiled real stars including Cat Stevens. Overall, while Coen may never push writers like Raymond Carver out of the pantheon of American Short Story writers, these tales are an amusing bunch, made more entertaining by the considerable vocal talents of each of the narrators. I recommend you give them a try, especially in audio format. The people in the next car will wonder what you are grinning about.
Rating:
Summary: If you like his movies...
Review: If you like Ethan Coen's wacky films, and I am among their biggest fans, then you are bound to enjoy most if not all of the subject stories. Unlike most audio collections, these stories are narrated by many of the actors who have starred in Coen Brothers films such as William H. Macy, John Goodman, John Turturro and Steve Buscemi. I thought that was a great touch, and unlike another reviewer here I thoroughly enjoyed the vocal talents, never sensing that the stars had been quickly handed the stories and told to "read" by the director. As for the tales themselves, they were each very different, and ranged from typical Coen brothers slapstick crime stories to poignant tales of growing up Jewish in Minneapolis. I really enjoyed "Destiny",the story of an over-educated boxer with no fighting spirit, narrated by Matt Dillon, who becomes hopelessly involved in a battle between a couple of two bit hoods while getting pummeled throughout the story. "The Boys", a story of a father struggling to maintain his sanity on a camping trip with his two sons really struck a chord as well, since Coen displays his typical caustic wit and dead-on observations of family relationships. The stories are not for everyone, sometimes the language can get a little coarse (especially the Steve Buscemi narrated "Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland", involving a music industry executive who tries telling the police the myriad of enemies who might have tortured his dog), and those easily offended may want to look elsewhere. Even here Coen's biting sarcasm is evident, as he skewers thinly-veiled real stars including Cat Stevens. Overall, while Coen may never push writers like Raymond Carver out of the pantheon of American Short Story writers, these tales are an amusing bunch, made more entertaining by the considerable vocal talents of each of the narrators. I recommend you give them a try, especially in audio format. The people in the next car will wonder what you are grinning about.
Rating:
Summary: dialog-a-go-go
Review: reading gates of eden is like stepping into a movie house mid-movie...it leaves the reader greatly amused -who else could use "bagadonuts" as an expletive as well as coen??- he leaves one cynically aware of his blackened humour...though not all the stories are connected by one sigularily brilliant thread, they made me laugh outloud--an admirable talent..
Rating: 
Summary: An anthology of hit and miss
Review: Some of these stories hit familiar territory for Coen. Others are a departure. These others are less successful. These others tend to delve into a Jewish childhood fraught with bitterness. They tend to fail as Coen slowly feels out the audience reaction during the narrative, never quite going as far as he does in his usual world of gangsters, drifters and hitmen. It makes you wonder how biographical some of the stories are as he tries to be satirical without wanting to offend. The stories set in familiar surroundings though are riddled with class dialogue and subdued brutality, both hallmarks of the great films he's penned. They are a mix of novellas and mini-screenplays that rarely fail to hit the right spot. Naturally he wanted to use the medium of the short story to broaden his horizons. To me it has just confirmed to himself that he excels at one thing and that is what he should stick to.
Rating:
Summary: Half great, half so-so.
Review: Starts out strong and funny-the kind of dialogue and stories you'd expect from half the creative talent of Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, etc. Starts to go down hill in the second half when he mixes what reads like autobio material in with the bizarre themes that usually come from him.
Rating: 
Summary: This is what Audiobooks are all about!!
Review: There is no way you can enjoy this work in print as much as you can on audio. The readers; William Macy, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon to name a few, are fabulous. The stories are quirky and dark, sad and puzzling, funny and odd all at once. The readers then give each story a new twist with their drama and multiple voices. If you are an audio fan, or even if you aren't, please try this if you are a fan of the Coens.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Coen Bros. Stuff (ie great)
Review: This collection of 14 short stories from half of the Coen Brothers filmmaking team is very solid throughout save one or two entries. They have all the elements and tones you might expect, deft odd humor, nasty hoods, pitch-perfect dialect, and a sort of twisted upper Midwest and California settings. There are a few stories that drift into the autobiographical realm, as they recount some aspect of growing up Jewish in Minneapolis. If you like Coen Brothers' movies, you should definitely dip into these stories.
Rating:
Summary: Escellent Book
Review: This was a great a book as you'll ever want to read. It is extremely entertaining, humourous, enthralling and witty. Coen's mastery of language, dialect, and the human mind is captured in these few short vignettes. If he intends on scribbling more short stories in addition to his films, I'm all for it.
Rating:
Summary: Help! Coen turned people into pulp!
Review: Well no, these aren't actual people in Coen's stories, but they are 'real' and brilliantly drawn. The dark humor those familiar with the Coen Bros. movies is ever-present in these stories, and Ethan proves he's as capable a writer as a storyteller, with very clever use (and abuse) of language and clever turns of phrase. I suppose what I enjoyed most is that every chapter of this short-story collection is a *story*, rather than just a writing exercise from a creative writing course. These stories are populated by *characters*, and the actions of these characters advance the *plot*. Each is pure fun to read, and again, are excellent *stories*. They're about people, and the things people do, and how screwed up the whole species really it.
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