Fitting Ends and Other Stories

Rating:
Summary: A heartfelt work worthy of your attention
Review: Chaon is a very capable author, one able to depict the pieces of regret, discomfort and deception that lie within us all. He revises the world through the eyes of his characters, exposing a landscape full of unresolved feelings and desperation. I read "Fitting Ends" in an anthology and have checked this book out as a result. It was well worth the trip, and far superior to the junk food on the shelves and bestseller lists posing as "literature." Check this book out. You won't be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary first effort
Review: Chaon is no mere sentimentalist, yet his stories chart probing flights over emotional landscapes of both the unusual and the everyday minutiae that comprise American life. This is a gifted writer, and his work is an honor to read. The title story captures better than any other the feeling of living "in the moment" and outside it at the same time, elaborating a lifeline that has suffered alienation and loss and redemption; journeyed to give you the story. While far and away the best piece in this collection, it does not by any means overshadow the other works published under this very appropriate title. Buy this book and read it carefully.

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary first effort
Review: Chaon is no mere sentimentalist, yet his stories chart probing flights over emotional landscapes of both the unusual and the everyday minutiae that comprise American life. This is a gifted writer, and his work is an honor to read. The title story captures better than any other the feeling of living "in the moment" and outside it at the same time, elaborating a lifeline that has suffered alienation and loss and redemption; journeyed to give you the story. While far and away the best piece in this collection, it does not by any means overshadow the other works published under this very appropriate title. Buy this book and read it carefully.

Rating:
Summary: Carver Plus
Review: One story after another pushing emotional buttons as if by remote control, no needless sentimentality or displays of craven nostalgia, no explosions or easy gimmicks, the video-taped honeymoon notwithstanding, rather a series of deadpan heartbreaks and implosions. Necessary writing.