Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules
List Price:
Our Price: $4.63
You Save: $11.37 (71%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Editor: David SedarisIntroduction: David Sedaris
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-03-29
ISBN: 074327394X
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Reviews of Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules
Book Review: Eclectic Short Stories From a Sedaris Perspective
Summary: 5 Stars
The next best thing to a new David Sedaris book is a collection of his favorite short stories since they reflect aspects of his character that may not be readily apparent in his often darkly humorous remembrances. He has chosen seventeen diverse stories by both modern and legendary writers, and the net effect is a microcosm of emotions unexpected, sometimes funny (as you would expect) and often poignant. I like how Sedaris in the foreword reverses the perspective you would expect him to have and settles into being a reader like the rest of us. What he does contribute is a strong sense of himself in the presence of these stories by simply liking them enough to include them.
Being such a fan of his work and being able to relate to a lot of the quandaries he faces in his life, I immediately felt a kinship with many of the authors some of whom I am already familiar. For example, Alice Munro who captured a particularly universal perspective in her recent short story collection about women in transition, "Runaway", has a surprisingly amusing contribution with "Half a Grapefruit" about an insecure girl named Rose who is rebelling against the concept of you are what you eat. Or Jhumpa Lahiri, who won a well-earned Pulitzer Prize for her own anthology "Interpreter of Maladies", of which Sedaris has wisely chosen the title story about the delicate relationship between an insightful Indian interpreter and a bickering Indian-American couple visiting India. Both focus on identity crises in vastly different settings. I certainly am familiar with Dorothy Parker but not with her wonderfully brief and evocative story, "Song of the Shirt, 1941" about a WWII-era seamstress under duress. There's an intense little story called "Bullet in the Brain" by Tobias Wolff which raises issues of randomness and control at the moment of death in a biting, economic fashion.
Other stellar stories are by the likes of Flannery O' Connor, Katherine Mansfield, Joyce Carol Oates and Patricia Highsmith. The quirkiest may be Jincy Willett's "The Best of Betty," in which we are witness to the sarcastic decline of a domestic advice columnist. But my favorite may be Amy Hempel's "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried", which deals with the complex reactions to the dying of loved ones. There is even a brief and amusing epilogue by Sarah Vowell acknowledging the charity to which Sedaris is donating the proceeds, a kindred spirit whose ironic death obsession pervades her latest tome, "Assassination Vacation" (she was also the voice of goth-like daughter Violet in "The Incredibles"). There is not a clinker in the bunch. While reading this breezy anthology will not make you want a new Sedaris book any less, it will make you appreciate what great taste he has as a reader.
Summary of Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules
A bestseller in its own right and a must-have for fans of the #1 bestselling author David Sedaris, a collection of his favorite short fiction.David Sedaris is an exceptional reader. Alone in his apartment, he reads stories aloud to the point he has them memorized. Sometimes he fantasizes that he wrote them. Sometimes, when they?re his very favorite stories, he?ll fantasize about reading them in front of an audience and taking credit for them. The audience in these fantasies always loves him and gives him the respect he deserves.
David Sedaris didn?t write the stories in Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules . But he did read them. And he liked them enough to hand pick them for this collection of short fiction. Featuring such notable writers as Lorrie Moore, Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates, Jean Thompson, and Tobias Wolff, Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules includes some of the most influential and talented short story writers, contemporary and classic.
Perfect for fans who suffer from Sedaris fever, Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules will tide them over and provide relief.
Humor Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Humor Books
Snuffby Chuck Palahniuk
Anchor; Published: 2009-04-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops:
Don't Eat This Bookby Morgan Spurlock
Penguin Audio; Published: 2005-05-19; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hellby Tucker Max
Penguin; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
The Saber-Tooth Curriculumby J.Abner Peddiwell
Mcgraw-Hill; Published: 1959-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Miss Americaby Howard Stern
It Books; Published: 2010-08-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.71
Price in other shops:
101 Places Not to See Before You Dieby Catherine Price
Harper Perennial; Published: 2010-06-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.59
Price in other shops:
My Life and Hard Times (Perennial Classics)by James Thurber
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 1999-10-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.63
Price in other shops:
Equal Rites: A Discworld Novel (Discworld Novels)by Terry Pratchett
Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-09-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.73
Price in other shops:
Mirth of a Nation: Audio Companion, Fellow Traveler and Friend for Life--Laff Tracks From America's Most Trusted Humor Anthologyby Michael J. Rosen
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-11-12; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $4.51
Price in other shops:
Red, White & Liberalby Alan Colmes
HarperAudio; Published: 2003-10-28; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influenceby Amy Sedaris
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2008-10-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.16
Price in other shops:
How We Survived Communism & Even Laughedby Slavenka Drakulic
Harper Perennial; Published: 1993-05-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.75
Price in other shops:
Me Talk Pretty One Dayby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 2001-06-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.58
Price in other shops:
Holidays on Iceby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 2010-10-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops:
Nakedby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 1998-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops:
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denimby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 2005-05-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiaryby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 2011-10-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.39
Price in other shops:
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiaryby David Sedaris
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2010-09-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
When You Are Engulfed in Flamesby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 2009-06-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.45
Price in other shops:
Barrel Fever: Stories and Essaysby David Sedaris
Back Bay Books; Published: 1995-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.44
Price in other shops: