Andrew Reilly (1)

Review based on ARC.

Unfortunately for me, the title story was the first story, and I didn't like it. I imagine if you liked that story, then the whole book is set up for you. But for me, it was kind of going nowhere, kind of depressing, kind of just blah. I've heard so many of that story, from so many perspectives, and this one fell flat for me. I say unfortunately because it made me avoid reading (altogether) for a while, because I didn't want more of "that."

When I finally DID pick the book back up and bear down to geterdone, I was very pleasantly surprised. No, I did not love all the stories - I felt that some were self-gratifying.. "look how RAW I am" kind of tone. But on the whole, there was a lot of good stories, a lot of good telling, and some pretty good writing.

I particularly liked Push Kick Coast because it accomplished the "raw," harsh reality, without being so self-aware. It was just. So. Well. Done. Loved it.

And Why I Hate Strawberries... Well, I hated the story because of why she hates strawberries, but it was well told and I appreciated her courage.

Overall, I was pleased with the opportunity, but it felt a bit weighty to be put all together like that... I know that not all of the stories were sad, but they were all dark, weighty, lessoned.

I also enjoyed being brought back to Chicago -- having lived there for about a decade, the stories brought me back to my first adult home, and I enjoyed the nostalgia.

Overall, 3 1/2 stars because some were just excellent, some were okay, and a couple were really blasé. (if you would like the full review, including a reaction-blurb of each individual story, see my blog at http://theirstoriesmythoughts.blogspot.com/)… (plus d'informations)

Briefly Knocked Unconscious By a Low-Flying Duck has a fantastic premise of stories that are told aloud to an audience, which are real events in the storytellers' lives. The introduction to the book has a wonderful take on the age-old question, "What is real?" I was immediately drawn to this book, which used stories as ways for people to connect, and ways for people to find themselves in stories from other lives.

What followed was a series of 23 stories from many different walks of life, and my enjoyment of the stories was almost as varied. The first story, the book's namesake, is a powerful story, as is the closing story. While some stories are powerful, though, others fall flat in self-pity or regret from which nothing was learned. A woman describes her family as co-conspirators in her grandfather's chronic molestation of children, but there is no sense that the storyteller has learned anything or grown in any way. Many of the stories have sad endings with a very powerful note, such as "Push, Kick, Coast," or "Super K," but many of the stories have endings that are attempts to be powerful moments, but just fizzle out, such as "Xena, Cardboard Princess."

I think where the book suffers most is 1) in its language. I'm generalizing when I say this, but these stories largely do not read like stories that are told aloud. They read like stories that are READ aloud, which to me takes away a good deal of sincerity for the storyteller. 2) There was a distracting level of typos, which i hope are fixed by the next printing.

I was extremely excited about this book, and several of the stories were exactly what I was hoping the whole book would be.… (plus d'informations)