Stories

All-New Tales

By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, Al Sarrantonio - editor, Joe Hill, Joanne Harris, Richard Adams, Jeffery Deaver

Narrated by: Anne Bobby, Jonathan Davis, Katherine Kellgren, Euan Morton

Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Stories is a groundbreaking anthology that reinvigorates, expands, and redefines the limits of imaginative fiction and affords some of the best writers in the world—from Peter Straub and Chuck Palahniuk to Roddy Doyle and Diana Wynne Jones, Stewart O'Nan and Joyce Carol Oates to Walter Mosley and Jodi Picoult—the opportunity to work together, defend their craft, and realign misconceptions. Neal Gaiman, a literary magician whose acclaimed work defies easy categorization and transcends all boundaries, and "master anthologist" (Booklist) Al Sarrantonio personally invited, read, and selected all the stories in this collection, and their standard for this "new literature of the imagination" is high. "We wanted to read stories that used a lightning-flash of magic as a way of showing us something we have already seen a thousand times as if we have never seen it at all.”

Joe Hill boldly aligns theme and form in his disturbing tale of a man's descent into evil in "Devil on the Staircase”. In "Catch and Release", Lawrence Block tells of a seasoned fisherman with a talent for catching a bite of another sort. Carolyn Parkhurst adds a dark twist to sibling rivalry in "Unwell”. Joanne Harris weaves a tale of ancient gods in modern New York in "Wildfire in Manhattan”. Vengeance is the heart of Richard Adams's "The Knife”. Jeffery Deaver introduces a dedicated psychologist whose mission in life is to save people in "The Therapist”. A chilling punishment befitting an unspeakable crime is at the dark heart of Neil Gaiman's novelette "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains”.

As it transforms your view of the world, this brilliant and visionary volume—sure to become a classic—will ignite a new appreciation for the limitless realm of exceptional fiction.

©2010 Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

I Love This Book! They really are All-New Tales.

What did you love best about Stories?

The stories are brand new...really new! A fresh take on "unusual" characters and plots with really good narration.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

There is such a varied collection of stories it is difficult to speak of them as a whole but I enjoyed the mystery, humor, sass and the pure creative spirit of this audio book.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

There are multiple narrators. These stories uncannily have the right narrator for each one.

Who was the most memorable character of Stories and why?

Joyce Carol Oates' "Fossil Figures" a story of twins was a favorite as was "Wild Fire in Manhattan" by Joanne Harris, "Juvenal Nicks" by Walter Mosley plus "Catch and Release" by Lawrence Block, Actually too many characters over-all to list.

Any additional comments?

Lots of listening time. I have listened to these stories multiple times and probably will continue to do so. This is a favorite "travel buddy". Of at lease 25+ audio books, this is the only one to which I repeatedly return.

Dark, horror

I love Gaiman but had to put this one down. The stories were each ugly, brutal, violent or disturbing. Well told but not enjoyable for me. Maybe a fan of horror fiction would enjoy more.

some were good

some of the stories are really good, some not so much. a decent read from a used book store

I love a good short story.

I love a good short story. The majority of these are fantastic!! Joe Hill’s Devil on the staircase is an excellent choice to close.

You will probably find at least one story that you like

It’s a hodgepodge of stories. A couple of them were very dark, disturbing, and thus, I liked them very much. I found most of the stories boring. There were a couple that I was surprised had made it into the anthology, because they just didn’t seem on par with the surroundings.

There might be something in here for everyone? Not really sure. I kind of wish I’d used my credit for something else, but then again, it’s always worth it to hear Neil Gaiman’s voice.

Excellent way to past the time

If you could sum up Stories in three words, what would they be?

The stories are varied and they're all well acted. There are a lot of stories of varying lengths so there is something for everyone.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite story is about Deel and his return form the war

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

There are several really good narrators- all gave a really great performance

If you could rename Stories, what would you call it?

Moments to Ponder

Any additional comments?

Highly recommend.

haunting stories

these are great stories. The kind that stay with you and that you think about often. they make you wish you lived in such mystical world's but terrify you when you realize the darkest parts of the stories come from reality.

incredible

a beautiful collection of entertaining stories. I was compelled and entertained! do yourself a favor and enjoy!

A pleasure

Where does Stories rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In my top 3

What did you like best about this story?

Well, it is a collection of stories from a variety of authors which makes each a unique and worthwhile listen. There is a wonderful dearth of literary perspective each author presents.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

It is a cast reading, and each gave life to the story that he/she was reading.

If you could rename Stories, what would you call it?

I would, the name piques curiosity in such a way as to draw the reader in. Besides, each story is different and there is no better unifying title than the name of the collection.

Both well written and selected short stories

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definitely recommended due to the variety of the subject matter and the audio delivery of the short stories. Every one of the stories were well written and worth listening to both in terms of content and the enthusiasm shown by the narrators in their delivery. All the stories had my interest, most often in terms of the descriptive text, dialogue and interest build up.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Stories?

There were a number of memorable moments in all the stories due to the excellent nature of the delivery. Specific stories that had a good build up to the climax were The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains in which the story and characters followed a journey which included many questions raised. Let the Past Begin builds up through a number of humorous but favorable observations of the girlfriend, with some amusing, but well written dialogue, plus brings in an interesting theme with respect to unusual occurrences.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

All the narrators were enthusiastic about their subject material. Most had interesting accents that suited the story and provided greater variation. Interestingly, they were forthcoming in changing accents with new characters in the story and this most often added value to the story line. I particularly enjoyed the change from male to female vocalization in Let the Past Begin as well as the Scottish accents in The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Clearly, a single tag line is difficult for a book on short stories: Mysteries Extraordinary

Any additional comments?

I have found this short story book particularly enjoyable. My thought is that it would be useful to have a downloaded and printable PDF that provides information on each of the short stories especially with respect to title and author. Perhaps a very short description would also be useful. I would expect the description may be useful for novels as well. I was going to rate the performance down to a four on this factor i.e. the fact that with audio one does not have a record of the chapters names etc. in the same way that one would have with a hard-copy, instead I have rated performance at a five with the recognition this is a technical matter for Audible to consider for the future.