Emma Cline’s Daddy is a compilation of stunning short stories with one common link---the men in the stories are fathers, father figures, or symbolic fathers. Many are nefarious, brooding, or self-absorbed. All of them are beneficiaries of patriarchy, even the seemingly winsome main character Ben in the story “Mack the Knife.” Cline is a deft storyteller and like her bestselling The Girls, the characters portrayed in the stories convey complicated inner lives. Most of the stories are told through the lens of female characters; however, it is the men who act inappropriately in unwanted touches, glances, or dominant authority.

I read a few reviews of this book that seem to suggest Cline is good at telling a dark story. Curiously, I didn’t read the stories as dark tales. Men often behave badly. They do not need to be the Harvey Weinsteins, Jeffrey Epsteins, or Kevin Spaceys of the world to be guilty of unseemly behavior. I recall once observing a guy I had dated very briefly, before meeting my husband, yelling abusively at his girlfriend or wife in the local Target store. He seemed to be lording over her for God only knows the reason. The same guy did not behave this way toward me in the short few months we dated. And, that is what it seems Cline seems to be suggesting in the collection of stories. Bad behavior comes in many different manifestations.

Men behave badly, yet sometimes women are culpable in those actions. In “Los Angeles” the main character Alice has recently relocated to Los Angeles working in an unnamed (though reminiscent of American Apparel) clothing boutique where she meets a free-spirited coworker, a wealthy high schooler named Oona. Quickly, Oona lets Alice in on an easy, secret money-making endeavor selling strangers her underwear. The extent to which Alice will go to make an extra buck proves nearly to be her undoing. A middle-aged man lures Alice to his car for the transaction. In full panic mode, Alice scarcely escapes the predicament but also reflects on the situation as a badge of honor to share later with Oona.

Other stories such as “What Can I Do With A General” or “The Nanny”; however, the best story of the collection is “Marion,” which seemed slightly reminiscent of The Girls. In “General” a family of three sisters returns to the family home for Christmas holidays. The stern nature of the father reflects the kind of upbringing that seemed to involve abuse as at least one of the sisters flinches when in proximity to her dad. In “The Nanny” a twenty-something young woman is fleeing from the ruins of a sexual relationship with the father of a famous celebrity couple. Kayla, the main character, and Rafe, the celebrity, got caught and the paparazzi wound up plastering Kayla’s photo all over the press. As with other stories, Cline does not allow the woman to take solitary blame for the splintered marriage. While at the same time, the characters are written with complexity and ambiguity. Sadly, despite all the wreckage, Kayla still patiently hopes Rafe will reach out to her but it is a desire that never materializes.

The story I enjoyed the most was “Marion,” which had the hallmarks of The Girls. The story centers on Marion, a 13-year old adolescent who lives on a commune-like ranch with her mom, her mom’s boyfriend, and several other adults. Marion’s best friend is a mainstay at the ranch as well and the two spend lazy days watching the men working in the barn, picking vegetables in the garden, or romping the countryside. Marion appears to enjoy attention garnered from the men but her best friend feels unease by their gaze. Marion hopes to draw the attention of one of her stepfather’s best friends by luring him with a naked photo of her and a lock of hair. The echoes of The Girls reverberate as on scene involves the two girls finding graphic photos of grisly dead bodies and bloodied sheets. Yet, that remains the tangential to Marion’s budding sexuality. In the end, Marion renounces her friendship with her bestie in the hopes of luring one of the men to her. Like the other stories, grown men wield their power whether emotional, physical, or sexual.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Emma Cline for the opportunity to read this collection of short stories. I was a huge fan of Cline's debut novel, The Girls, and was so excited to read this book. 3.5 stars rounded up.

I will preface this review with the note that I'm not a huge fan of short stories - I like digging into a novel with more teeth and better developed characters and plot. These stories revolve around human failings, mostly of the male variety, and how small decisions change lives. Each of these stories was well written and left me wanting more - which was the problem for me - I wanted more! At the end of each short, I felt a bit sad that it ended so abruptly because I was just getting into the story.

Emma Cline is a gifted writer and I'm hoping she is feverishly at work on her next novel!

DNF

I’m a big fan of short stories, but these just really confused me. I was completely stumped at what the point of the first one was. The second showed promise until it abruptly ended and again I was confused as to what the author was trying to say. I made myself read one more, just in case...
And I’m done.
Loved her first book [book:The Girls|26893819], but these shorties aren’t for me.

ARC provided by NetGalley

I will preface this review by saying I don't regularly read short stories but I have loved several collections of them in the past. I really enjoyed this author's debut (review HERE) and was excited to read this collection of stories. Unfortunately, the collection was just ok for me.... This collection was a quick read but aside from the last story, A/S/L, I was left wanting.... The stories felt a bit derivative to me and all ended quite abruptly. I hope this author considers writing a another novel, which I would definitely read.

Daddy comes out soon on September 1, 2020 and you can purchase HERE.

The steady desert heat meant Thora applied and reapplied medicated lip balm, refilled her water bottle from communal jugs, water tinted by lemon slices and mint. They weren't allowed cellphones but could call home as much as they liked--after the first week, anyway. They could go into town with staff supervision. Thora didn't leave the Center, but her roommate Ally, came back with turquoise dream catchers and magazines, big Saran-wrapped cookies from the bakery.

Thank you Random House for the free book. Emma Cline’s new story collection finds characters of privilege who fail to turn their gazes outward, too riveted by their own ennui as the internet rumbles in the background like a storm cloud ready to burst.

The short stories in the book were intriguing, all of them were, but they were so unsatisfying. You didn’t know what was really going on in any of them, it read like a bunch of book pitches that were fully thought through but were put into a book instead of each made into their own. It was frustrating coming to the end of each story with so many questions that won’t be answered. The stories themselves were going to be great and were interesting with tinges of darkness, but nothing ever came of them. I was a little annoyed.

I tried really hard, over multiple attempts, to like this collection of short stories.

Couldn't.

Emma Cline is a good writer, and the way she brings together her characters, how she develops and reveals - very cleverly and often very subtly - their backgrounds, situations, context and intents, is all very good. I found myself often invested in the characters - within a space of a page or two. In my opinion, that signifies some very convincing and authentic writing. What's more - this happens in multiple stories. Their truths are subtly painful, and even though their situations are routine to the extent of being mundane, the depiction makes you curious and interested - and invested - in what's happening and what's going to happen.

Which is where the stories falter.

The first story, "What Can You Do With A General" paints a painful, poignant and pretty melancholic picture of a marriage that's somehow withstood the test of time. The couple John and Linda are looking forward to their grown-up kids to visit them for Christmas, and there are utterly sweet - passing - references to memories of their childhood, that right away connect you to this coterie of characters. There are things the kids used to do when they were little, and then you see what they are doing today - the classic coming-of-age story told from the perspective of parents who are outside that coming-of-age circle, and watch helplessly as their kids have drifted away from them - slowly but inexorably. There are snippets of conversations, and Ms. Cline sprinkles her story with delightful puzzle pieces. You are beginning to look forward to see what that overall completed picture would look like. The parents are clearly ageing, and the chasm is widening. You see a fantastic premise for a crackling story - looking forward to what she has to say, what this family has to talk about.

Nothing.

The next one, "Los Angeles" is another gem of characterization. Alice and Oona are clearly and coherently written, and their interactions with each other, and also with the customers is vividly and colorfully written (!). All good, and then there's an interesting (but irreverent? or just deviant?!) storyline that seems to be developing. Something seems to be happening, or did it just happen?

Suddenly, you are done.

The next story, "Menlo Park" has one of the most deepest and longest character development. There's literally no one else in the story for quite some time - just Ben. Then we meet Arthur, and Karen. You feel something possibly brewing. It would be delicious, or at least a tease. You get a rather long non-event - which curiously enough, somewhat reminded me of a Saki story I'd read once. That there makes me believe all over again that Ms. Cline must write well, for me to be able to recollect Saki's writing when reading her work.

But unlike Saki's denouements, this one leaves you with a lost opportunity.

I'm sure I can go on, but this pattern repeats itself. Time and again, the characters don't get a chance to do anything.

Don't get me wrong - there is a build-up, and there is a plot. In almost every story in the collection, I found the plot beguiling enough, and the soup the characters found themselves interesting enough. It's just that the characters themselves - before there's a chance to tell a good tale, the story ends.

I may be speaking out of my place - I'm not a qualified writer, but I've read enough to at least share an opinion. Often writing is about when you have something to say. It shouldn't be when you have to say something.

This collection seemed painfully and repetitively to resemble the latter. It's as if Ms. Cline had a lot of good ideas, and had the start of some good stories - though not the stories themselves. Then the book had to be released - seems unfinished.

I remember trying out her famous earlier novel - The Girls. I couldn't finish that, but for distinctly different (and personal) reasons, and based on what I'd heard and read about her writing, I wanted to give this one a try. Was disappointed.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Ms. Cline for providing an ARC, for my original and honest feedback.

Daddy by Emma Cline is a collection of short stories that leaves you wishing they were each fully developed into novels. Each story has well-developed characters and riveting plots. A highly pleasant reading experience that's perfect for when our brains are easily distracted during a world pandemic.

I really enjoyed Emma Cline’s novel “THE GIRLS”, so was excited to read her new short story collection. I am sorry to say they did not meet my expectations.
Each story started off with a very interesting premise. Each of them captured my interest right away. The writing was excellent. I was feeling so positive, then came the endings- rather vague for each one, left me feeling flat and I hate to say it but thinking what was the point of all that- a great story just ending with so little closure. What do I do with this ending??

I am not an afficiando of short stories, but have really been reading more of them over the past few years and really enjoying them. Sorry to say this one did not meet my standards, albeit the writing was excellent and the topics interesting.

Daddy by Emma Cline is a dark and edgy collection of short stories. Each of the stories has a theme of disconnection and explores dysfunctionalities and power struggles within families and/or relationships.

What I liked about the book is the sheer power of Cline to draw the reader in with her characters.

What didn't work for me is that in each story, there is a huge elephant in the room that is referred to but never brought to full light, and none of the stories offered resolution. The vagueness meant to entice left me feeling unfulfilled.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions stated here are my own.

3 stars is the middle of the road. It's not necessarily bad and it's not overly wonderful. It's just there.

I was a fan of Emma Cline's "The Girls" so I went in expecting to have that same sort of feel. This short story collection leave much unsaid and much to be desired. There's dramatic tension but then it just fizzles out. "Los Angeles" was the standout story to me, capturing the boredom of a retail job and finding new ways to make money.....yeah, that's it. :)

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the digital ARC for review.

Intriguing character sketches that meander sometimes to haunting, if occasionally frustrating effect,

I was such a huge fan of The Girls that I overlooked my dislike of short stories when I requested this book. But while The Girls took me in with its lush writing and engaging story and characters, these stories felt flat. I didn’t care for any of the characters and in most cases, nothing really happens. in fact, over and over again, they just end. No resolution, no meaning. I just could not get invested.
She focuses on relationships, those that are intimate and those that are profane. The mood in all the stories is dark, morose really. Nobody is happy. Any love that exists, is one sided.
I can only hope Cline returns to a full length novel for hew next book.
My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

I am just really disappointed by this book. I really liked The Girls and was looking forward to this book, even though it was a shift in genre. However, it just seems like the flaws that were in The Girls are still present and even more prominent. Cline has a great eye for details and lyrical writing, but she seems to really enjoy writing stories that end right when they start to get extremely interesting.

Emma Cline, one of the predominant voices in the current literature of the female flaneur, brings a wonderful collection about the disillusionment and alienation of a tech savvy 21st century. Definitely a wonderful collection of stories!

Daddy is a collection of short stories which didn’t hold my attention. I prefer more fully developed stories. It seemed like I was looking at a small slice of each character’s life and I felt adrift at the end of each story.

I first became acquainted with Emma Cline’s work in her excellent debut novel, The Girls. This collection of short stories gave me the same off-kilter feeling of being dropped inside someone else’s head. These quiet glimpses into troubled souls are at times heart wrenching and at other times poignant. In What Can You Do With a General, Northeast Regional, and Son of Friedman, we meet parents and children who barely know each other. Mack The Knife and Menlo Park show us the world through the lens of disillusionment and hindsight. Although each of the ten stories contain different characters and situations, the common thread is how alienated the characters are from the people that supposedly love them. If you are a fan of deftly drawn vignettes and don’t require stories to be neatly tied up with a bow, you would enjoy this moving collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for a review copy of this book.

While I greatly enjoyed THE GIRLS, Cline's debut novel, DADDY didn't connect with me as much as I had hoped it would. While there were a couple of stories here that I enjoyed (I especially liked "Los Angeles", "The Nanny", and "Northeast Regional"), the slice of life dysfunction ever present in all of them made it very hard to like and relate to any of the characters. A few of the stories also ended very abruptly, as if there was more to be said and yet these unspoken pieces weren't necessary to comment upon. While I think that this worked with a few of the stories (notably the ones that I mentioned above), sometimes it left me wanting more, and not in a positive way. There is no denying, however, that Cline has a very distinct and beautiful lyrical style, as so many of the images and narrations that she constructed really stood out and struck me as I was reading. Her talents in that regard make me hesitant to write off the stories as a whole, because the style truly stands out. I definitely want to see what Cline comes up with next. But within a genre or narrative device that I like more than I do short stories.

DADDY is strangely beautiful in some ways, and frustrating in others. But Cline is still a unique voice in literary fiction today. I had just hoped for more.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

Emma Cline is a gifted writer whose debut novel, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, delved so perfectly into the psyche of a teenage girl that it was a fast burn. This was a different reading experience that feels more like quiet observations. 𝘋𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺 is a collection of stories that reveal the thoughts of people navigating their everyday lives, whether they’re in the stages of becoming or trapped in ruts. People with bad luck, those who have a hard to conjuring a good feeling about their own families, flirt with the edge of danger for a spot of money, charmed flatterers whose lives are fizzling out, a son whose movie project fails to measure up to his father’s brilliance and a nanny to a celebrity couple that offers more than child care- just to name a few.

People are growing out of each other’s reach in both 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 and 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢. John, father and husband, frets over his wife’s beloved dog whose failing health coincides with Christmas as his adult children are home for a visit in the first story. Children all in one place, making his wife Linda’s heart happy but anger and irritate John with their distracted presence. Time and age seems to castrate a man.. anger unwelcome. In 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢, boyfriend Peter intrudes on the bond between siblings Heddy and Otto. As Otto believes there is room for expansion for the orchard, Heddy expands her mind with schooling, what about Peter?

𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘯 tells the story of two friends who while away time on thirteen year old Marion’s family ranch; a bohemian sort of place where children have a little too much adult freedom. When the girls aren’t hunting for cigarettes they are scheming to get attention from a grown man. Playing at things they don’t understand in a quest to keep ‘men on their toes’.

𝘈/𝘚/𝘓 is all mountains and desert heat as a young woman tries to ‘assess her feelings’ and ‘locate the discomfort’ while in rehab, but what landed her there? How do you assess feelings and take control when you don’t know what your feelings are? When playing with the seedy side of life is much more entertaining?

𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦 is about getting everything that you wanted and becoming disenchanted, a misery even anti-depressants won’t fix. Feeling like you’re never quite the grown up.

The stories were hit or miss for me, some ended too soon others didn’t draw me in but there were a few I enjoyed. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘯 made me think of loyal dog friendships, someone always seems to be the leader and it’s always the follower who pays for the daring antics. Too, it’s evident how sexually confusing youth is when the adults fail to pay attention and supervise. I imagine younger readers won’t enjoy 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 , maybe because they can’t forecast that far ahead and imagine the comparisons between the way things used to be and how it all turned out, sad that there seems to be very little intimate connection to his children, so tuned into their own existences now. I think after you have children who are adults these sort of stories resonate more. It likely has something to do with going through the ringer, something none of us escapes as we age. It was a decent collection, Cline is a wonderful writer but it was not as absorbing for me as her novel, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴.

Publication Date: September 1, 2020

Random House

This collection of stories is full of razor-sharp writing and smart observations. It’s sometimes hard to review story collections but this one actually felt cohesive in its depictions of toxic masculinity and things left unsaid. We drop in on these variously medicated protagonists doggedly living through the small calamities of their lives. The overall effect is entertaining in the moment but fleeting in the aftermath – these stories didn’t stick with me the way I expected them to, they ultimately lacked some kind of depth. I continue to be excited about Cline regardless and look forward to what she does next.