Although I did love the short stories & had a few favorites among them...I am just not one who likes more than one story compiled into one book, I tend to get really bored come the Second story and beyond...No matter how good all of the stories are.

Now, if I had owned the book..I may have taken the stories a little slower, but I rented this copy from the library and wanted to finish all of the stories before I took it back because I knew I probably wouldnt have gone back to get the book.

The fact I got bored is the only reason I gave it a 4/5 Stars, but it wasnt because the stories in and of themselves were boring, even though there were some I wasnt crazy about...they were still okay...To do the stories individually and give them their own stars, then to "add them up" the book still would have gotten a strong 4/5 stars...4.5/5 actually...

All of the stories were sad/depressing in one form or another and that would have also been a factor in rating them. There were no happy endings.

But, again, I did enjoy the stories, many more than others...Some may have only gotten 2/5 Stars while others got either a 3 or 4 out of 5 stars....

They are all worth reading & looking into, even if its just a book to fill time in between waiting on another book you've ordered or waiting for at the library...:-)

It took me a few days to read it because I hadn't really been wanting to read and because I just kept getting bored with it and not wanting to read them, but was determined to finish them because I did want to, even though my review may not seem like it...lol ( )

I appreciate the writing style of Alice Walker. I finished the book, but it took awhile because the stories were sad and depressing. ( )

fiction

A collection of thirteen of Walker's earliest stories (published in 1973) and shows her developing maturity and genius. Collections of short stories are always difficult for me to rate because the stories affect and engage me differently. Each story is distinct. A couple felt more like character sketches that Walker would develop later in her novels. Many characters reflected Walker's own experience in the sixties civil rights movement. A few will haunt me. Early on we get "Really, Doesn't Crime Pay?", a story of a pampered, suppressed black woman artist--a cautionary tale for anyone who aspires to be a writer. Walker ends with a particularly sweet story of love, family, and community called "To Hell with Dying." In between we have a desperate mother trying to save her dying child in "Strong Horse Tea," an old woman who meets Jesus in "The Welcome Table," an obsessive wife searching for the woman who stole "Her Sweet Jerome," and a "Diary of an African Nun" reflects on the nun's choice to turn her back on the life-giving culture of people and turn to the sterile life of a bride of Christ. Altogether this was a short, but satisfying collection of compelling characters. ( )

Although I did love the short stories & had a few favorites among them...I am just not one who likes more than one story compiled into one book, I tend to get really bored come the Second story and beyond...No matter how good all of the stories are.

Now, if I had owned the book..I may have taken the stories a little slower, but I rented this copy from the library and wanted to finish all of the stories before I took it back because I knew I probably wouldnt have gone back to get the book.

The fact I got bored is the only reason I gave it a 4/5 Stars, but it wasnt because the stories in and of themselves were boring, even though there were some I wasnt crazy about...they were still okay...To do the stories individually and give them their own stars, then to "add them up" the book still would have gotten a strong 4/5 stars...4.5/5 actually...

(Next Sentence Has a Slight Spoiler)
All of the stories were sad/depressing in one form or another and that would have also been a factor in rating them. There were no happy endings.

But, again, I did enjoy the stories, many more than others...Some may have only gotten 2/5 Stars while others got either a 3 or 4 out of 5 stars....

They are all worth reading & looking into, even if its just a book to fill time in between waiting on another book you've ordered or waiting for at the library...:-)

It took me a few days to read it because I hadn't really been wanting to read and because I just kept getting bored with it and not wanting to read them, but was determined to finish them because I did want to, even though my review may not seem like it...lol

( )