My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro (2008)

I've already reviewed a couple of the stories in this collection, so I'll go ahead and offer up an opinion of the collection as a whole (which is more difficult).

Of course, I loved some stories and really didn't like others and was ambivalent about the rest. (Actually, Harold Brodkey was the only author with two stories in the book; they happened to be, respectively, one of my favorites and my absolute least favorite almost-didn't-get-through-it. What should I make of that?) Eugenides has done a fine job of curating a wide range of styles and viewpoints. In the introduction he emphasizes that his subject is not love but the love story, then goes on to offer us an array of evidence that proves him to be true to his mission.

I appreciate a collection like this that helps me discover authors I may not have found time for otherwise. For example, the inclusion of "Jon" by George Saunders has convinced me I want to read more by him. ( )

Birthday gift to myself! :)

Because Jeffrey Eugenides takes his sweet time between writing incredible novels, when I heard there was a short story compilation edited by him it was purchased on my amazon account and being shipped to my house as fast as my fingers could go.

After reading the first few stories I began to get worried. I didn't bother to read what the theme of the compilation was when I purchased--his name was enough for me. But the first few stories (by some of the 'classics'--Faulkner, Joyce...) had me terrified I had signed up for something I was not interested in at the least.

Thankfully, those stories were at the front of the book, and just like trudging down your veggies before you can have dessert, the book got way better.

I'm a completionist, I'm a person who needs o finish books, so I can't recommend skipping the first few stories...but if you can hold out it will be worth it! ( )

Love this collection as it has many stories and authors I had yet to discover. Particularly liked Jon by George Saunders and Spring in Fialta by Nabokov. ( )

Great collection; some of the stories are brilliant--the final story especially packs a punch. But I found a lot of them repetitive in theme and characters, and I would have liked to see a more diverse collection of characters--they were almost all about straight, white characters, and male authors outnumbered female 2:1. ( )