People I Wanted to Be: Stories

People I Wanted to Be: Stories
by Gina Ochsner

People I Wanted to Be: Stories
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Book Summary Information

Author: Gina Ochsner
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-05-11
ISBN: 0618563725
Number of pages: 204
Publisher: Mariner Books
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780618563722
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of People I Wanted to Be: Stories

Book Review: a lovely read
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a beautifully written collection of stories. Ochsner writes about loss, faith, redemption and love, and each story seems to explore a different aspect of human nature. Many but not all of the stories are set in Eastern Europe. There are a number of stories in which animals play a role, and there's even one about a bird who speaks what its owners don't want to hear. I was especially moved by "Articles of Faith" which is about a Russian couple longing to have a child, and "Halves of a Whole" about twin sisters who work in their family's Hungarian funeral home and who are polar opposites. I also really loved "A Darkness Held" in which a recovering alcoholic substitute teacher returns to her old catholic school to look after an unusual group of students. Each one of the stories in this book was special in its own way, and though sometimes when I read short story collections I get bored or stop reading after the first couple of stories, I was actually sad when I finished this book. Overall, I was really moved, and look forward to reading more by this author.

Summary of People I Wanted to Be: Stories

Gina Ochsner's award-winning, highly acclaimed stories have appeared in such publications as The New Yorker and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. In her eagerly anticipated new collection, Ochsner deftly examines the harrowing moments after a life or love slips away and discovers that the human heart can be large enough for anything.
A Russian couple come to accept their infertility by bidding farewell tot he ghosts of the children they never had. A disgruntled husband buys a talking bird that he hopes will restore love to his marriage. Twin sisters learn to prepare bodies for burial in their Hungarian parents' funeral home, but when faced with a death of their own, they must learn to prepare the soul. Glowing with warmth and sparkling with imagination, these stories are rendered with a deep understanding of human resilience as well as an unerring belief in small, daily miracles.

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