I really liked this collection of short stories! They where written truly poetic and very realistic

I have to be honest and admit that I wasn't of to a good start with the first one, it started too complicated and the story didn't make much sense to me (I'm not a native English speaker so maybe it was because of that, but it's the first time that I had this problem). After the first story I decided to give the book a new chance, and I'm glad I did because I really liked the rest of the stories!
Short stories are a difficult thing to write, because you don't have much time to form a bond between the characters and the reader, but I think Christine Schutt did a marvelous job in this collection.

(I will write a better review in a couple of days.)

It's ironic that one of the reasons I never used to like short stories, the fact that I had only a short time to build relationships with the characters, is one of the things I like most now. When stories are done right, it's amazing how complex characters can be, how complicated their journeys, and how deeply you can feel about them, in just a small number of pages.

I didn't really feel that way about Christine Schutt's new collection, Pure Hollywood: And Other Stories. she's definitely a talented writer, and her use of imagery is tremendously poetic. But I found her writing style a bit evasive, so it was difficult for me to understand the characters' motivations, what was happening to them and why, and, at times, whether or not I should sympathize with them.

In the title story, a brother and a sister with a rather complicated (and perhaps inappropriately close) relationship come together after the death of the sister's much-older husband, once a renowned comedian. As often happens in this type of relationship, her husband's adult children quickly ensure she is left with virtually nothing, so she needs to figure out where her life went wrong, and how to get it back on the right path, while ensuring her brother is nearby. (Or at least I think that's what the story was trying to say, because it meandered between their childhood, her relationship with her husband, an incident that happened after he died, and present time, sometime without any real signal as to when the scene or reminiscence took place.)

In "The Hedges," an unlikable and unhappy couple goes on vacation with their sick and cranky toddler. Very little is told about them except that they are unhappy with each other yet they still are trying to enjoy their vacation despite the demands of their child, and so they employ numerous coping strategies. The entire story foreshadows an incident, so when it occurs, you're unsure of how to feel, and given what happened, I felt badly that I didn't care enough about the characters to care.

"Species of Special Concern" tells of a man and his ill wife, and the man who seems to be infatuated with her, and definitely feels like he would be a better and more responsive (and responsible) husband to her. Yet the story is so short, there is not enough time to understand why the man thinks that way beyond jealousy, and whether the man cares for his wife, or whether the besotted man has reason to be covetous.

As the collection winds to a close, many of the stories get even shorter, so I found it even more difficult to get hold of them emotionally. I had a great deal of hope for this collection, but it just didn't work for me, so I hope it does for others.

NetGalley and Grove Atlantic provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Wonderful collection of short stories, I read this in one sitting at the pool and it was absolutely perfect. I don't usually like short story collections as they tend to feel disjointed but this collection flowed properly and just felt right.

What I enjoyed:

Writing Style- I quite liked Schutt's writing style, it was both accessible and had some beautiful prose. In particular I enjoyed the second story in the collection, which raised interesting questions about a connection between a mother and child and had the perfect sense of foreboding.

Unique - Each short story had a unique and original tone , that kept me reading on and made me think about them long after I finished reading. As is the nature of short stories, a reader is thrown into a tale with no prior knowledge of the characters and their situation, but I felt like Schutt did a good job of keeping the tales engaging and was certainly provocative.

Thought provoking - The stories left me with so many questions and I feel like many of them would make great stand alone, full length novels too. The tales span so many different subjects from marriage, family, desire, childhood and bereavement to name a few. Most of the stories felt quite sad or melancholy which I also liked, it really reflected the intricacies of life.

What could have been improved: 

Vagueness - Whilst I did enjoy her writing style overall, the use of euphemism led to a lack of clarity and left me wishing certain things were more clearly expressed. Some sentences were vague and I feel like some word choices were a bit unnecessary but this is a relatively small critique.

Some weaker tales - Whilst a majority of the tales were quite strong and immersive, there were a few of them which I found it hard to connect with or be interested in such as: The Dot Sisters and Family Man. Out of 11 stories, I suppose it is natural to have your personal preference though.

Overall, I'd definitely consider reading Pure Hollywood if you're into particularly dreamy prose and want to feel an odd sense of nostalgia and be immersed into the lives of others. It definitely reflects a vast array of emotions and situations.

Honestly, I couldn't finish this. I thought the writing was terrible and I just could not get into the story. I had such high hopes for this book!