Excitability: Selected Stories 1986-1996 (American Literature (Dalkey Archive))

By Diane Williams and TurtleMe

Book Overview

"Excitability" collects the best of Diane Williams's bold, often hilarious, stories of love, sex, child-rearing, death, and space aliens--stories that are (in the words of Bradford Morrow) "wry, sensuous, spiritual, wise, raunchy, familial... alive to the contradictory nuances which define our lives."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1564781976
• ISBN13: 9781564781970
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
• Length: 329 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.4"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Oblique yet direct

I blazed through this book in about a day. Some stories I really enjoyed, some I didn't really. Many just flat out confused me or left me cold. But let there be no doubt: there is some astonishing work here - among the best the world of literature has ever seen, in my opinion. It would probably be futile for me to try describing the simultaneous sense of wonder and unease Williams provokes with a single sentence. The best of these stories are a lot of nothing that end up seeming like everything. Or nothing.

Odd, very odd.

Diane Williams has collected a lot of ultra-short stories in this book (most of which are under three pages in length.) Her characters are intriguing, especially given we only read about them for one or so pages. We can learn, in such a short space, much about one aspect of each of her characters. What we learn more of, however, is about Ms. Williams's views on society and how women are treated. Many of her characters are very similar, so much so some could even be the same woman. Is this one of the great works of literature the world will ever see, no, but is it worth reading, yes.