Fun With Problems
Jan 2010 · HarperCollins
5.0star
1 reviewreport
Ebook
208
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About this ebook
In Fun with Problems, Robert Stone demonstrates once again that he is "one of our greatest living writers" (Los Angeles Times). The pieces in this new volume vary greatly in length—some are almost novellas, others no more than a page—but all share the signature blend of longing, violence, black humor, sex and drugs that has helped Stone illuminate the dark corners of the human soul. Entire lives are laid out with remarkable precision, in captivating prose: a screenwriter carries on a decades-long affair with a beautiful actress, whose descent into addiction he can neither turn from nor share; a bored husband picks up a mysterious woman only to find that his ego has led him woefully astray; a world-beating Silicon Valley executive receives an unwelcome guest at his mansion in the hills; a scuba dive guides uneasy newlyweds to a point of no return. Fun with Problems showcases Stone's great gift: to pinpoint and make real the impulses—by turns violently coercive and quietly seductive—that cause us to conceal, reveal, and betray our very selves.
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5.0
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October 24, 2010
The short story format is hardly Robert Stone's raison d'etre. The author usually works with much bigger canvases, utilizing epic-length narratives to examine, unflinchingly, the state of humanity in the 20/21st century. There are four or five writers in America who consistently leave me awestruck and Stone is one of them.
When he's at his best (DAMASCUS GATE, DOG SOLDIERS and, especially, OUTERBRIDGE REACH), few authors can approach him in terms of the sheer beauty and utility of his prose. FUN WITH PROBLEMS gives a hint of his many strengths as a writer but, really, in order to divine the man's true genius, you must read his novels. This collection of stories is a helpful primer...but OUTERBRIDGE REACH, harrowing and unforgettable, is as good as it gets.
About the author
ROBERT STONE (1937–2015) was the acclaimed author of eight novels and two story collections, including Dog Soldiers, winner of the National Book Award, and Bear and His Daughter, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His memoir, Prime Green, was published in 2007.
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