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Rating: 
Summary: Great from start to finish
Review: I started reading this book one morning and didn't put it down until I finished it. As a true Southerner (born and raised in Alabama), I recognized many of the characters in the book. Jennifer Davis truly captured the essence of many Southern women in her characters. I found myself disappointed when the book came to an end. I am anxiously anticipating her next book and highly recommend Her Kind of Want.
Rating:
Summary: Roll Down the Window and Crank Up the Radio
Review: If the stories in Her Kind of Want were a song, I'd crank it up, roll down the windows, and light a Marlboro. These women, hailing from the University of Been There Done That, have a gorgeous resilience, an awkward gift for recognizing that their own yearnings somehow aren't justified by the world and probably never will be. Davis's prose is lyrical and swoony, the kind you like to read aloud and listen to...She also takes on the daunting task of deconstructing the redneck/southern female stereotype. "Rewriting Girl," the introduction, frames the rest of the collection, by inviting us to witness how girl/southern has been written (by men? by Sean the male protagonist?) and how
it will be (inevitably) up to Southern Women (capitalization intended) to re-write their own narratives-- secretly, subversively, cunningly and quietly-- in bars and backseats and with lovers who don't really get their mystery. I loved this book and highly recommend it. Davis's style is darkly Carson McCullers-ish but it has a sense of humor that is purely original and real. A real ...kicking collection. Poetry. One of the best books I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: HER KIND OF WANT leaves me wanting more!
Review: Jennifer S. Davis' first book, "Her Kind Of Want" definitely deserved the Iowa Short Fiction Award; her writing is absolutely stunning. Although the stories in this book are not my usual 'reading fare,' (I prefer Austen, Gabaldon, Pilcher--something uplifting with happily ever after endings) I do make exceptions if the writing is extraordinary. I loved Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible" because of the beautiful writing (even though the story was quite sad). Both women have similar writing styles.
I read somewhere that a writer should write what she knows and Davis has written stories about women (albeit damaged) from her native Alabama. All the women are products of their dysfunctional families with the exception of Dena (who is a product of events surrounding her life).
Davis' writing is deep, rich, and poetic. Only a gifted author could have written the subtle differences in each woman's personality. I was enthralled with every story and the lovely and poignant way each was presented. The characters are so well developed that by the end of the book, I felt that I knew them personally. I could not put this book down! Jennifer Davis is a remarkable writer and I know we will see great things from her in the future (a Pulitzer?). I also hope her next book will be more uplifting. I love Southern Writers and am so glad I can add Jennifer to the top of my list!
Rating:
Summary: HER KIND OF WANT leaves me wanting more!
Review: Jennifer S. Davis' first book, "Her Kind Of Want" definitely deserved the Iowa Short Fiction Award; her writing is absolutely stunning. Although the stories in this book are not my usual 'reading fare,' (I prefer Austen, Gabaldon, Pilcher--something uplifting with happily ever after endings) I do make exceptions if the writing is extraordinary. I loved Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible" because of the beautiful writing (even though the story was quite sad). Both women have similar writing styles.
I read somewhere that a writer should write what she knows and Davis has written stories about women (albeit damaged) from her native Alabama. All the women are products of their dysfunctional families with the exception of Dena (who is a product of events surrounding her life).
Davis' writing is deep, rich, and poetic. Only a gifted author could have written the subtle differences in each woman's personality. I was enthralled with every story and the lovely and poignant way each was presented. The characters are so well developed that by the end of the book, I felt that I knew them personally. I could not put this book down! Jennifer Davis is a remarkable writer and I know we will see great things from her in the future (a Pulitzer?). I also hope her next book will be more uplifting. I love Southern Writers and am so glad I can add Jennifer to the top of my list!
Rating:
Summary: Great from start to finish
Review: There are nine compelling stories in Her Kind of Want by Jennifer S. Davis. For the most part, Davis's characters are women trapped and betrayed by either their bodies or men or both. In "Only Ends" Sissy is a 14-year-old whose best friend is 9 and whose Grandma tells her she's lucky that because of her bad brain she won't have to worry about men. In "Some Things Collide" Nadine is a woman alone with breast cancer. In "The One Thing God'll Give You" Hula's Momma warns her that "there ain't but one kind of man" and that is borne out by what happens when Hula starts dating Willie. Most of these stories are domestic tragedies, as depressing as a fat-fingered man with a wet toupee and a pinky ring drinking sugared iced tea and Jack Daniels while hitting on the 13-year-old next door. But they are also beautifully written. Although the events of the story are as heart-wrenching as the events in the other stories, "Tammy Imagined" breaks from the pack in that it is written from a point in the future that implies hope. By its placement in the collection, "Tammy Imagined" highlights the complexity and dignity of the characters in previous stories. The collection as a whole is poignant and unforgettable. Like Southern women writers before her, Davis writes colorfully with great attention to the telling detail. Her Kind of Want would fit in well on the shelf next to anything by Bobbie Ann Mason.
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