Short stories and sushi. I know, a strange pairing, but stay with me. I want to like sushi. It looks good, it appears healthy and to be frank, I like the thought of being able to say: "oh yeah, I love sushi and let me tell you about the sushi I just had. Life just might be better if I liked sushi. But.......................... I guess you can see where this is going. Try as I might, with the most positive of attitudes, sushi simply doesn't work. I can swallow it, but with every bite I am thinking about ending the ordeal and eating something that I really and truly like. It may just be time to accept the harsh realities. And so i is with short stories. I went into "Sorry for Your Troubles" with a positive attitude determined to expand by reading horizons. But every page was like every bite of sushi. To the best of my capacity to evaluate something I don't like, the stories that make up 'Sorry for Your Troubles" were very well written and emotionally evocative (if a bit dreary and depressing). Beyond this I am at a lost of what. I deeply appreciate Netgalley for sharing this book with me in exchange for a review. I know this is, at best an atypical (and perhaps unhelpful) review, but I can say that this book helped me accept the fact that this is likely the last collection of short stories I will attempt. That said, I believe that this experience enriched my appreciation for all of the types and formats of books that I love (and enjoy). So please, if you like short stories, consider adding "Sorry for Your Troubles" to your reading list and appreciation your taste in books!

For a long time now I have been of the opinion that having a short story collection going in tandem with whatever else being read is a good thing and perfect to pick up to fill small periods of time available. The trick is picking a collection that suits each reader. This collection by my contemporary Richard Ford is perfect for me because it addresses topics relevant to someone like me who has had quite a bit of experience with life. In the first story, dealing with the unexpected encounter with a long ago love interest, I was set wondering about how many of us have thought about that possibility and whether we would welcome it or not. My complete enjoyment of Sorry For Your Trouble was enhanced by the author’s setting some in New Orleans which happens to have an important place in my heart. This is a great book of short stories.

Sorry For Your Trouble is a poignant, melancholy collection of short stories and novellas. Most of these stories explore what happens after some sort of loss, through death or divorce or love otherwise lost. For me, the standout stories in this book were the two novellas, "The Run of Yourself" and "Second Language." In "The Run of Yourself", an elderly man attempts to rediscover himself after his wife of many years commits suicide. To start this process, he rents a cottage on an island in Maine, just down the street from the house where his wife committed suicide. In "Second Language", another recent widower explores a similar process, except that he moves to New York and marries a beautiful, glamorous realtor. Both of these stories are simple, yet very powerful.

I very much enjoyed Richard Ford's writing style, full of vivid descriptions and insightful observations. There is a beautiful, yet sad, feeling to many of these stories. But some of these stories felt too short, as though they weren't quite enough room to breathe. Some of them, such as "Nothing to Declare" and "A Free Day" were beautifully written, but seemed somewhat pointless because they were so short and so little happened.

Even though I am not always a fan of books that contain stories, when i saw who the author was I made sure to request this one. And it didn't disappoint. Richard Ford has a way of spinning stories, no matter the length, that keep you engaged and wanting more. And this book is no exception. I think that 'Displaced' was my favorite.

The collection seems mainly united by a common thread of characters exhibiting an ambivalent state of desire; it's almost as if many of them are internally asking themselves, "Do I want this? Should I try it and find out?" 
And then much of the tension comes from when a character (or two or three) travels that road, unsure.

For me, this tension was strongest in the story "Displaced," wherein Henry (a teen boy who has recently lost his father) "sort of" believes he wants the attentions of (18? 20? year-old) Irish immigrant Niall MacDermott (working class, transient, also of ambiguous and seemingly restless desires) but when Henry receives Niall's attentions, both Henry and the reader squirm with nervous discomfort as Niall runs hot and cold, his mood and actions swinging between friendly, irritated, bullying, even predatory.  It struck me as the kind of encounter wherein you believe you want someone's friendship, but later in retrospect, realize the person made you uncomfortable and can't quite decide what you think of him.

The stories are set in New England, the American South, and Ireland. Setting in time is funny, though; of the ones set in contemporary times, you sometimes forget and think they are set in the past until some plot detail reminds you, and I think this is a function of style and tone (which are in keeping with those writers heavily influenced by Hemingway/Fitzgerald/Faulkner/etc).  

As a member of the Literary establishment with a capital "L," I don't think Richard Ford is the kind of author that needs to be "discovered," but in the outside possibility, I would recommend this story collection to readers who enjoy stories by John Updike, Ann Beattie, and James Salter.

A new collection by Richard Ford never fails.An engaging group of stories some novella length.The author has his own way of writing of drawing you into the story the characters a master writer,#netgalley#harpercollins

I'll preface this by saying you kind of have to be a Richard Ford fan to like this - and I am - and I did. Seven or eiqht short stories - 2 novella length. Some typical - some not. But the writing is to be savored. This man writes so well. The stories are melancholic - most take place in Maine or New Orleans (not the beloved New Jersey of Sportwriter). People aging - second chances (or second takes) - lost illusions - mature compromises. A wise book. He's won the Pulitzer and many other awards - inspired by Faulkner, Welty and Carver. When's this guy winning a Nobel Prize for literature! Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy

Richard Ford never disappoints. Each of these stories, two long enough to be considered novellas, explores individuals who find themselves usually after a trauma-- each could be the genesis of a complete novel but are wisely presented in this form. Mostly taking place in Maine, New Orleans, and Ireland, they are not "linked" but might as well be since the characters traverse the same landscapes but never cross over. His writing is mature, articulate, immersive. Highly recommended.

A man and woman, lovers 35 years earlier, have a chance meeting in New Orleans and consider their futures and their pasts. A middle-aged American lawyer living in England contemplates life as he takes the ferry to Dublin to finalize a divorce from his Irish wife. A mother and her son in 1950s Mississippi face reduced circumstances after the death of the father. A lawyer in New Orleans tries to move on after his Irish wife commits suicide in their Maine summer home. A lawyer, recently divorced from his unfaithful wife, takes his bitter 12-year old daughter to say goodbye to a classmate whose family is leaving New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. A divorced school teacher from rural Ireland has an affair with the husband of her college roommate. A woman divorced from an Irishman and a widowed man get married in New York City, but then see their relationship dissolve after only two years while on a trip to Maine.

Those are the basic plotlines explored in several of the stories comprising Richard Ford’s collection of short fiction <i>Sorry For Your Trouble</i>. Most of the nine tales in the volume are fairly brief, although two of them—‘The Run of Yourself’ and ‘Second Language’—are long enough to be labeled as novellas (wherever that line is actually drawn). If there is a common theme that connects these stories it is the focus on people who must live beyond some sort of traumatic loss, such as a divorce, the death of a loved one, or losing a job. However, there is also a distinct feeling of sameness that pervades the entire book; it really felt at times that I was reading a too-similar version of the same melancholic account over again as I moved from one story to another. In fact, the entire book felt more like multiple variations of the same idea rather than a series of distinct and original treatments, as if the author’s intention was to create a literary riff on something like Bach’s <i>Goldberg Variations</i>.

To be sure, Ford is a masterful wordsmith, who has long been one of my favorite writers. His insight into human nature and ability to capture the joys and angst of living have made both his Bascombe novels (especially <i>Independence Day</i>) and short fiction (<i>Rock Springs</i>) some of the most memorable books I have read. While this collection shows flashes of the same brilliance—including many stunningly crafted sentences scattered throughout—it does suffer a bit by comparison. In particular, I did not find any of the stories to be all that engaging and many of the shorter ones felt far too fragmentary to be anything other than easily forgettable. Also, these are all overly serious, relentlessly depressing tales without a shred of humor or much in the way of redemption for any of the characters who have experienced significant losses. So, while I am certainly glad to have read <i>Sorry For Your Trouble</i>, I would not place it near the top of the author’s considerable catalog of work.

As in most story collections, about half were really excellent. I liked Richard Ford's earlier works better. Independence Day just cannot be topped.