Little Black Book of Stories

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, magical, evocative!
Review: I love A.S. Byatt. Hers is a voice full of magic, her stories incomparable. Having read The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, I couldn't wait to read another one of her collections of short stories. The Little Black Book of Stories offers dark, disarming vignettes with a touch of magical realism. Reading between the lines is required in most of the stories. My favorites are "The Thing in the Wood," "Raw Material," "Body Art," and "The Pink Ribbon." The aforementioned stories are written with beautiful, magical prose. I marvel at this author's literary talent. I cannot wait to read more of her stuff. In the meantime, I recommend this amazing, evocative effort...

Rating:
Summary: True Talent
Review: Initially I was attracted to "Little Black Book" by its mysterious cover that appeared aged amongst a sea of glossy new titles. As her book appears, A. S. Byatt is a unique talent. Byatt's stories show considerable skill with language and story, inventiveness, restraint from flamoyance and a kind of hopeful darkness. Most of the short stories are highly layered, richly imbued with double entendre, history, folklore and mythology. For their mystery, evocative quality and flirtation with the horror genre I give them the highest recommendation possible.

Rating:
Summary: To write like this!
Review: To write like this, to really write like this, what power! These stories take hold of the mind like the great myths of the past. The sentences are crisp and clean, and simple in the way the best of all great writing is simple, with a simplicity that stirs to life the deep complexities of the subconscious. If I could write like this I would die happy.