- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Mariner Books; 1 edition (Jun 13 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0618546723
- ISBN-13: 978-0618546725
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14.2 x 1.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 249 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Guista's uneven debut collection of short stories pits, to mixed results, therapy against theology. His characters, often complex and emotionally crippled, seek answers to the fundamental questions concerning God, love and the meaning of life. These are treacherous waters for a first-time author, but Guista navigates them mostly unscathed, exhibiting the clinical compassion you'd expect to find in someone with advanced degrees in fiction writing and psychology. The 14 stories share a confessional tone that sometimes approximates a group therapy session (from "Godcrazy": "My name's Ed and I know I'm crazy. I like to fly but I also like people."), which isn't surprising, considering many of his characters either work in the mental health field or are in therapy themselves. Guista is at his best when he stays within his element of brainy, self-aware professionals; the few instances when he branches out (as in "Front Yard," a dismal and mercifully brief lampoon about a paranoid, God-fearing ranching family), his knack for understanding his characters utterly vanishes. However, the strong stories that bookend and pepper this collection far outweigh the few misses.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
The connection between literature and psychology has always been strong. This collection of short stories makes the connection even clearer. Most of these stories are brief and dense; most of the characters are fascinating, but because of their problems, many of them are difficult to relate to, and others are simply unlikable as people. The plot descriptions are not as complex as the stories themselves: a couple on the verge of divorce sells off their belongings while bickering; a psychiatrist slowly realizes his life's work has been in vain; a professor tries to deal with his guilt over a hit-and-run accident. Guista's interest in and compassion for his characters is clear throughout this fascinating and difficult--but ultimately intriguing and challenging--collection. Marta Segal
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Soulful Search, Dec 13 2005
By madelaine - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Brain Work: Stories (Paperback)
This is a life-altering kind of book that kind of creeps up on you unawares. You think you're just wandering into a regular book of psychological fiction--with characters suffering from OCD, Tourette's, brain trauma, and so forth--but somewhere in the middle of it all Guista transports you to a search for the soul, or at least the mind, or a Self with a big S. But you don't know, after reading these often moving, sometimes humorous, always challenging stories whether it is your mind or soul or SELF reading the book or if it's merely brain chemistry. There's plenty here: psychological disaster, philosophical rumination, drug-induced euphoria. But there is always more. This book will stay with you months later.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everyday Madness, Jan 24 2006
By Jeremy C. - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Brain Work: Stories (Paperback)
This is a fascinating study of brain malfunctions. A little on the intellectual side, but definitely worth the trouble, especially the stories "Filling the Spaces Between Us" and "The Year of Release." "Down to the Roots" was heartbreaking.
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