Rating: 
Summary: An impressive array of impossible things....
Review: I have to admit, the more I read Connie Willis' stuff, the more I enjoy her. The short stories in here display a very nice range, from frenetic to despairing, and they're all handled well. "The Last of the Winnebagos" is really a very moving story, much more than I thought it would be since I'm not a dog person. "Even the Queen" and "In the Late Cretaceous" were hilarious - the latter indicates that she must have worked in academia at some time in her life... "Jack" is an interesting piece, especially since she lets us figure out Jack's secret long before any characters do. There are a few rough points here and there - "The Schwarzschild Radius" and "Spice Pogram" come to mind, but they're easily made up for by the other stories in the book. Good reading for a long night with some hot chocolate....
Rating: 
Summary: A bit disappointing...
Review: I really enjoyed "To Say Nothing of the Dog" and I liked "Bellwether", so I figured I'd give Willis' short stories a shot. I admit, I was disappointed. Many of the stories in this collection were written in the 80's and early-to-mid-90's, and they haven't worn well over time. Some themes (like an attempt to hop on the anti-political correctness bandwagon) seemed a bit archaic...the modern equivalent of mentioning "free love" and "The Man" in the books of the sixties or seventies.The parade of surprising, star-crossed romances in story after story began to wear thin too...it became formulaic, and even made some of her novels less satisfying in retrospect (because they adhered to the same formula, and sometimes, the same research). I'd only recommend this book to someone who wants to revel in the Connie Willis formula...otherwise I'd give it a miss and stick to her full-length novels.
Rating: 
Summary: *Impossible Things* showcases Willis's unique voice
Review: In the introduction to her Hugo-award winning story "Even the Queen," Connie Willis condemns "literary demagoguery," arguing "[Shakespeare] wrote about Human Issues--fear and ambition and guilt and regret and love--the issues that trouble and delight all of us, women included. And the only ones I want to write about." In this second collection of her short fiction, she succeeds admirably in her objective.
Willis is gifted with one of the most original voices in science fiction, one that captures the elusive rhythms of screwball comedy (as in "Even the Queen" and "Spice Pogrom"), then just as deftly evokes melancholy or tragedy ("A Winter's Tale," "Chance"). And who but Willis would even attempt to write a story dealing simultaneously with evolution, academia, and parking tickets ("In the Late Cretaceous")? My favorite story in this compilation might be "Time Out," in which a down-to-earth housewife finds herself unexpectedly snared in a secret time-travel experiment, with hilarious results. Willis's light touch is one of her best assets in a genre that can often be overwhelmingly bleak and nihilistic. The humor can sometimes be a little too glib (as in "Ado," which deals with political correctness run amok in a high school English class), but, on the whole, the tone of *Impossible Things* is well-balanced between the comic and the tragic. Best of all, Willis has remembered one of the most important lessons in science fiction--that the distance between "possible" and "impossible" can be measured by a single phrase: What If?
Rating:
Summary: Impossibly Dull
Review: The ideas are far from fresh and her presentation doesn't help matters. Mundane.
Rating: 
Summary: More of the same, but entertaining
Review: The only exceptional story I found in here was Last of the Winnebagos. While the others were entertaining, they were frequently light on content and very predictable. If you love Connie Willis, you'll like this. If you haven't read her writing before, I'd start with something more substantial like The Doomsday Book instead.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read, Witty and Hilarious
Review: There are so many good short stories in this book, I hardly know where to begin. "Even the Queen" is the most hilarious answer to 'The Feminist Question' ever. I don't think anyone could ever top it. "In the Late Cretacious" is the most funny and accurate portrayal of university politics I have ever read. "Ado" is a funny look at political correctness taken to its most extreme absurd conclusion. I can't recommend this book enough.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read, Witty and Hilarious
Review: There are so many good short stories in this book, I hardly know where to begin. "Even the Queen" is the most hilarious answer to `The Feminist Question' ever. I don't think anyone could ever top it. "In the Late Cretacious" is the most funny and accurate portrayal of university politics I have ever read. "Ado" is a funny look at political correctness taken to its most extreme absurd conclusion. I can't recommend this book enough.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Storytelling
Review: There are times and places when I prefer short stories to novels---in airports, on trains, at the beach---and this collection by one of my favorite SF novelists is perfect, a wide range of topics, well-written, each a small gem. Take it on vacation with you this year, and be prepared to talk about the stories with all the people who'll no doubt ask you "What's so fascinating about that book?"...
Rating:
Summary: Blew me away
Review: This book contains eleven stories, which is the beginning of its downfall. It should have more like fifteen stories. However, the eleven contained herein are more than excellent, they are mindblowing. My favorite would have to be Spice Pogrom, one of the funniest and most absurd stories I've ever read. Connie's homage to the screwball comedies of the 30's and 40's is brilliant enough to make anyone want to rent one. Another brilliant, if confusing story is the conclusion to this book: At the Rialto. Dumb blondes of all shapes and sizes populate Connie's Hollywood, and their interaction with quantum physicists is laugh-out-loud funny. In The Late Cretaceous, although short, is a gem of a comedy story, with two subplots interwoven through it. Time Out is also hilarious and multi-plotted, although all the subplots resolve into one another in the end. However, this book is not all light fare. Several stories, such as Chance and The Last of the Winnebagos, are extremely sobering and thought-provoking. Although I enjoyed Chance, I doubt I will ever read it again; it was too sad. A simple story of a housewife's dissatisfaction with her life is, to quote, profoundly tragic as she reminisces about what might have been. The Last of the Winnebagos, although not terribly sad, is enough of an ominous portent to make anyone think twice. The only truly forgettable story here is Winter's Tale, Connie's contribution to the was-Shakespeare-Shakespeare debate. Although her Old Englsih skills are impressive, they are the only reason to read this poor story. All in all, however, this was a brilliant book I will reread for a long time.
Rating:
Summary: Get your feet wet
Review: This is a great way to try Connie Willis. Always poignant, wry, and never sentimental, her short stories are complete, with excellent, full characterizations. She is a master of the short-story genre. The collection showcases her variety of subject and style. I read "Ado" to my children on a (long) train ride, and we got to our stop with one page to go. Little did I know that other passengers were listening to the tale -- and they were *not* pleased to have us disembark without finishing the story.
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