Genre: Short
Story Collection
Description:
"Twelve Stories for Summer
offers a baker's dozen of fictional but realistic short stories set in summer.
It's for teenagers through senior citizens who could use a few minutes of
relaxation. Some of the stories take place at typical summer destinations like
a state park, an amusement park, a baseball stadium, a public auction, a Fourth
of July parade, an outdoor concert, a riding stable and an auto race. Others
show people volunteering during a church mission trip and tornado relief
efforts. One story features two college friends reminiscing over dinner. A
bored boy at the beach is another subject.”
Author:
Linda Mansfield is a former editor at a Manhattan publishing house and
current owner of a PR firm in Indianapolis.
Appraisal:
I’m not sure what to make of this collection and therefore what to say
or even what rating to give it. I’ll try to explain.
Generally, the writing is solid, from a technical standpoint. The
characters are interesting. But too often I’d hit the end of the story and
think “is that all” or “what was the point.” One story that springs to mind as
an exception to this is the tale of a guy on his first date in three years and
how he messes up. It was good, made a point, and could have ended strong. Instead
the ending made me want more, wanting to know what happened next.
As I’ve stewed about this I’ve come to the conclusion that the issue
here might not be these stories, but that these aren’t the right stories for
me. Yeah, that’s it, it’s not you Twelve
Stories for Summer, it’s me.
FYI:
Although one of a series of 4 short story collections (each collection
stories about a different time of year), the author indicates that the books
stand alone.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating:
**** Four Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate
word count: 25-30,000 words
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