Arna Bontemps Hemenway's Great Elegy on Kinderklavier

Amazon

I realize that I should stick to recommending novels, and only the great ones, but since I recommended my 'great' novella yesterday, then I can perhaps again recommend a great collection of short stories by Arna Bontemps Hemenway titled Elegy on Kinderklavier (Sarabande Books, July 15, 2014). As the "again" signifies, I've already recommended this book, so here's part of what I wrote:

As for literary quality, I was unsure at first. I felt that some expressions didn't sound quite right, for example: "word . . . petered out"; "the crowd got up and petered away"; and the dinner petered out." Almost as if written by a non-native speaker. Or have I - living abroad so long - become that stranger? But aside from this occasional weird linguistic experience, the stories drew me into them and grew so much in depth and power that I sometimes felt I were reading David Mitchell's writing, though I wouldn't wish to conflate their respective artistry.

On the strength of that portion of my review last year, perhaps some readers of this blog will have their interest sparked and actually read these stories. They are worth the time invested . . .