Believe it or not: I chose this book based on its cover. It was illustrated by Charles Burns (author/illustrator of Black Hole - which I LOVE).

It's really hard to rate a book that's a collection of short stories written by the same author, let alone when it's written by different authors. Overall, I really liked it. The concept was interesting. Zadie Smith has asked several authors (including himself) to write about a character. That's it. Some results were very impressive and amazing, while others... not so much. It has introduced me to the writing styles of several writers that I've wondered about for a long time. Dave Eggers is one of them, and I am definitely going to read some of his books. ( )

Some fantastic writers contribute to this anthology of short stories and vignettes. The proceeds are going to Dave Eggers’ 826NYC charity focused on helping children and teens develop their creative writing skills. Some of the stories I found thoughtful, thought provoking, entertaining and poignant, but I also found some flat, dull and overworked. Colm Toibin’s contribution is used as the opening story in his book “The Empty Family.” Nick Hornby gives us the evolution of a writer in his bio blurbs. Dave Eggers’ character is a lovelorn giant, and George Saunders wrote a story exploring two sides of devotion and love. The stories I did like--I really liked, so I found the book worth it.

As a whole this book was not a fun read. I would recommend skimming until you happen upon something you like. I did appreciate the exposure to writers I've never had the pleasure to read before. My favorites were (in order of appearance):

"Gideon" - ZZ Packer
"The Liar" - Aleksander Hemon
"Magda Mandela" - Hari Kunzru
"Puppey" - George Saunders
"Rhoda" - Jonathan Safran Foer
"Soleil" - Vendela Vida
"Roy Spivey" - Miranda July
"Cindy Stubenstock" - A. M. Homes
"Theo" - Dave Eggers ( )

Quite good. Very much of its time. Mostly not boring. ( )

Zadie Smith recopila ventiún relatos breves de los que, en su opinión, son los autores de lengua inglesa mas relevantes del momento. El objetivo es componer una obra benéfica en la que los autores no han cobrado nada por remitir los relatos que componen el volumen; y desgraciadamente esto se nota.

La recopilación es estrafalaria y con textos algunos de ellos de dudosa calidad. Parece que los autores enviaron aquello que tenían en los cajones, y respondía a las exigencias de la recopiladora; aquello que elaboraron en sesiones experimentales o cuando querían huir de sí mismos y sus elaborados estilos, y después guardaron porque intuían su dificil publicación. Algunos autores ni siquiera se ciñen a las limitaciones exigidas (no se le puede poner límite al arte) y enviaron algo que vagamente pudiera encajar en el compendio de cuentos.

El único que merece atención es el cuento titulado DONAL WEBSTER del escritor irlandes COLM TÓIBÍN. Un texto que se antoja autobiográfico, sobre la identidad homosexual y la pérdida de identidad que supone el iniciar una vida en un pais extranjero:

[...] Ya sabes que no creo en Dios. Los problemas del universo no me preocupan demasiado, a menos que me lleguen a través de la palabra, o de la música tal vez, o en una paleta de colores, y entonces sólo los tomo en cosideración meramente por su belleza, y sólo de pasada. [...] ( )