This is Karen Russell's third short story collection, and it's to the credit of the first two that I bought and read this one. Of the eight stories in this collection, three are pretty easy to find online, and before purchasing this book, I probably would have said that I didn't like any of them.
This collection, I think, is a continuation of a trend in Russell's work away from the pseudo-ironic, faux-cheerful roadside attraction style of her first collection and into work that's more easily categorizable. It's not necessarily that all of these stories are easily fitted into "genre" stories and "literary" stories, but I feel like they're moving in that direction—there's less of a fusion between the fantastic and the mundane, the magical elements are pushed too far into the forefront or they recede, like an afterthought, behind the main "point" of the story, which is often unrelated. And the stories that do strike a good balance (The Bad Graft, Black Corfu) still don't feel very "particular", I don't think I would pick them out of a line up as "Karen Russell stories". They feel like they could've been written by anyone, at least stylistically.
Ok, here's a little review of each story.
"The Prospectors": This was one of my least favorite stories here, a fairly straight up ghost story set during the Great Depression. I'm not a fan of historical fiction in general and though I think Russell generally pulls it off successfully, here it felt unnecessary and didn't add anything.
"The Bad Graft": I got halfway through this one before I realized that I had, in fact, read it before. It's easily the best story in this collection, and it's available online, so I won't say any more about it.
"Bog Girl": Another one I've read before. I don't love it, and it didn't leave me with strong impressions, but the mother/son relationship felt real and interesting.
"Madame Bovary's Greyhound": I haven't read Madame Bovary, so I think most of this went over my head, but it did kind of make me want to read Madame Bovary, which is impressive. As with Bog Girl, the relationships were more interesting than the "plot", to the extent a plot existed.
"The Tornado Auction": This feels the most in line with Russell's early work, though it does feel a little thin. I didn't get much insight into the character until more than halfway through the story, which made it feel both overly long and kind of rushed. I like this one on paper, but it didn't do it for me.
"Black Corfu": Another historical piece, though I quite liked it this time. The style felt deliberate and the characters well-formed. Good coherence between plot, characters, and setting. I'm not sure it's worth it to buy this book on the strength of this story alone, but it definitely tips the scales in that direction.
"The Gondoliers": I don't think I can fairly say whether this is good or bad. It's pretty straight dystopian scifi, which does less than nothing for me, but might be enjoyable to people who are into that.
"Orange World": Really unfortunately not about a world of orange at all. This is the devil breastfeeding story I've heard so much about, and it's good for a few laughs, but the premise is probably stronger than the story itself, which makes it an appropriate title story for this collection. ( )

Aangenaam.
Mooie sfeerzettingen...
Mooi taalgebruik.
Vlotte stories.
Spelen zich wel allemaal af in een niet-onmiddellijke tijd en plaats, dus je hebt een sprong van je verbeelding nodig. ( )

Fun page-turny weird lit. Lush but not sagging prose. Maybe one story in the whole collection which didn’t do it for me. Gonna go read everything else Russell has written. ( )

Rating short story compilations is difficult-- some of the stories were easily 5 stars, others I didn't love as much. Overall, really incredible ideas and execution. Some were just not for me but mostly I loved it. ( )

Every story she writes is wonderful. ( )