When I read Maggie Shipstead's novel, Great Circle, it took me a while to decide it was one of my favorite books of the year simply because it was so massive. It's a huge book and I needed time to process everything. Once I did, I acknowledged all the good things about it outweighed the length. So obviously I had a great time with a book of short stories with the same writing style/quality. The stories have the same scope, and the characters are just as deep despite the shorter length. Shipstead is definitely on my watchlist from now on.

I want to thank Net Galley , Knopf Publishing and Emily Reardon for the chance to read this collection of short stories from Maggie Shipstead. I read her book Great Circle last year and was curious to read this one- a collection of short stories. I enjoyed Great Circle , but felt it was a bit too long. Paradoxically, I wanted most of these to be longer. It is an interesting collection of stories written over the past 10 years. Several of them feel like they have the potential to be expanded (Angel Lust, Souterrain), some are perfect as they are ( Cowboy Tango, Backcountry). I didn't love all of them, but to paraphrase a movie-life is like a book of short stories- you never know what you will get. Angel Lust is the story of a movie producer and his two daughters as they clean out his late fathers house. It speaks to relationships, and expectations, and loss. The characters are well written and engaging. This is one that I would like to see expanded, to see more of the family's story.The situations are unique, yet have a familiarity to them. All of the stories are worth a read, or two.They all show the talent and promise in Maggie Shipstead. I am very glad to have had this opportunity to read them.

Maggie Shipstead's work has been excellence in fiction, and now she presents a short story collection written over many years. Every story is set in a new locale, with new character developments, and the tone of each story is original.

Some stories work better than others, and it's subjective. For me, the most engrossing was the story of two men and a woman worker on a farm in Montana, told over many years and the changes in their relation to each other, the animals, and the land. Another powerful story is that of a couple on honeymoon in eastern Europe, the details of their perilous marriage outlined and the devastating conclusion to the marriage.

There is a story about two athletes at the Olympic Village who spend a night together . I wish their characters had been fleshed out as much as the details of their one-night stand had been.

Shipstead's writing is always complex, and there is much to read between the lines.