Helpful Score: 1
One of my pet peeves are short story anthologies that "push the envelope" - and fall short of the mark, so that the reader is left scratching his or her head, wondering "what in the h-ll was THAT??"
I enjoyed Dancying Dogs: Stories, because it did NOT attempt to set the form and style of the short story upon its proverbial ear. Every tale had a beginning, escalating through exposition into a climax, ending in a conclusion. AND the conclusions did not feel rushed, as I have felt when reading other collections - almost as though the author realized that they were about to exceed their word count and had to rush the conclusion.
Don't expect these stories to set the world on fire; don't expect them to leave you confused, either. This is simply a pleasant collection of easy-to-read short stories around a common theme - dogs.
If you enjoy dogs (and in one story, a c*t), if you enjoy their owners, and if you enjoy reading about same - this is a worthwhile investment of your reading time - and of your hard-earned funds.
RATING: 3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy free of charge via the Goodreads FirstReads program; a review was requested but not mandated.
I enjoyed Dancying Dogs: Stories, because it did NOT attempt to set the form and style of the short story upon its proverbial ear. Every tale had a beginning, escalating through exposition into a climax, ending in a conclusion. AND the conclusions did not feel rushed, as I have felt when reading other collections - almost as though the author realized that they were about to exceed their word count and had to rush the conclusion.
Don't expect these stories to set the world on fire; don't expect them to leave you confused, either. This is simply a pleasant collection of easy-to-read short stories around a common theme - dogs.
If you enjoy dogs (and in one story, a c*t), if you enjoy their owners, and if you enjoy reading about same - this is a worthwhile investment of your reading time - and of your hard-earned funds.
RATING: 3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4.
DISCLOSURE: I received a copy free of charge via the Goodreads FirstReads program; a review was requested but not mandated.
