A thought-provoking collection of short stories which capture real human emotion. The main character in each story is being forced to face some personal crisis. Some deal with the problem in a comical way, others in a tragic one. Still others try to ignore what is going on. I was particularly moved by "Thinking Back," which takes us backward in time from a tragic event, to ultimately discover its tragic set up in a way I never imagined. ( )

I won this eBook in a Member Giveaway on LibraryThing.com in an exchange for an honest review.

Going Out In Style by Daniel Kelley is a collection of six short stories about: a musician, sexual abuse of a child, a book writer, an affair between neighbors, a man unable to love and a heart-broken woman.

The first story seemed quite boring for me: very long descriptions and almost no dialogues. I even considered giving up on this book but finally I’ve decided to give it one more chance and read the second story. I was pleasantly surprised; the story turned out to be really interesting and I couldn’t put it down. I think that my initial lack of interest resulted from the fact that this book was completely different from what I was reading lately.
The author focused on character’s feelings, thoughts and their past, which helps readers to understand character’s actions. My personal favorite stories are Bathtub Ripples and Getting To Know You. Summing up, I think that the author did a really good job. I’ll surely recommend this book to my friends. ( )

Going Out in Style, by Daniel Kelley, is a collection of six interesting short stories. The characters are well developed and their stories are well told. Highly recommended.

I received this book for free through LibraryThing Member Giveaways and the opinions expressed are my own. ( )

Very original and creative collection of short stories pertaining to the ending of events in individuals lives. Very well written and realistic stories from Daniel Kelley. I highly recommend this collection of short stories and all the other books by this author. ( )

In Daniel Kelley's collection of six short stories, he investigates things coming to an end from various perspectives. While often one thinks of finishing something as being sad, not all of these stories visit the darker sides of this, and that is one reason why this collection is so interesting.

The stories we are given here are entitled:
• Performer
• Bathtub Ripples
• Getting to Know You
• Thinking Back
• Doing it All
• A Child's Game

Of course, none of these titles give away much, but trust me, once you read them, you'll understand them completely. What is most fascinating about these stories is how very differently they each look at this subject, and yet how easily they fit together as a whole. For instance, the gentleness that turns to despair in Bathtub Ripples is beautifully balanced by the dejection that turns to hope in A Child's Game. With Thinking Back, we actually get the story in reverse. Here, the shocking news of Saturday becomes slowly understood as we work our way backwards through the events of each previous day until we learn what happened on Wednesday. Kelley's musical background comes out with the opening story, Performer, while his literary background comes to the fore in Getting to Know You. It's no wonder that these two stories feel like he lived through them personally, but he is just as convincingly realistic when his protagonist is a woman.

As I read these tales, it occurred to me that the artistry in writing good short stories is highly underrated (despite the latest Nobel Prize for Literature going to a short story writer). People generally think of short fiction as being the practice format for the job of attacking a "real" writing project - meaning, a full-blown novel. But the truth is that a carefully crafted short story is truly a thing of beauty. The ability to get fully formed characters, plots and action combined with the perfect impact into just a thousand or so words is no small feat. But Kelley does so with each and every one of these pieces. What's more, he does it with a style that feels like he's writing it with twinkle in his eye and a small smirk rising from one corner of his mouth. In fact, if I ever attempt to write fiction, this is the way I want my stories to sound - slightly irreverent with just a touch of humor.

If asked which of these stories my favorite was, I'd be hard pressed to find an appropriate answer. Because of my personal musical background, I can say that the opening story Performer is one I quickly identified with, but my literary background made me equally relate to Getting to Know You. On the other hand, if I was required to point out which story was my least favorite, I'd have to answer "none".

Kelley's talent makes each story fully rounded and complete, with believable, sympathetic characters we can identify with and plots that hold our interest. By using a common theme, there is also a cohesive feel to this collection, rather than just a bunch of stories thrown together. This is what makes Daniel Kelly's "Going Out in Style" such a successful collection. For all this, I could find no faults so I can't give it any less than five out of five stars, and highly recommend it. ( )