An Oral History of Atlantis is a brilliantly imaginative collection of short stories by Ed Park that explores the absurdities of modern life with deadpan humor and keen insight. From a college student whose on-screen role blurs with his real identity to a man confronting his life through the passwords he struggles to remember, Park's characters grapple with memory, art, and the fleeting nature of existence. With his trademark wit, Park crafts a world both familiar and surreal, offering a fascinating meditation on the transient beauty of life.

I have learned in my twenty fifth year of life that I really really love short story and essay collections, and, as such, I was really excited to get toddle into this one. I was immediately drawn in by the cover, so I want to give a huge kudos to its designer.

I also want to say that unlike many, as I am learning, I had yet to read anything by Ed Park before starting this collection.

Every one of these stories felt super distinct, which I love in a collection, but every one showcased Park’s knack for clever, absurd scenarios delivered with a razor-sharp wit and a distinctly smart sense of humor. The collection took me a lot longer to read than a book of a comparable size by another author may have, but I don't think that's a negative thing. I, in fact, think it's a lovely thing to find a book that you want to spend time with, a book whose author might be twenty times as intelligent as you are and whose writing takes you a second to fully understand, if you ever do.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for the advance copy of this book.

It's really refreshing to read an author that challenges the status quo and relishes in the joy of writing. Mr. Park does a great job keeping you on your toes in his collection of short stories. I love how it's just a stream of consciousness. Sometimes disorienting, some times bizarre, sometimes wonderful. There's a beauty in just writing an idea out just so it can exist.

This will definitely persuade me to look into more books by the author. Truly a unique reading experience!

to be honest, i'm not the right audience for this book. sure, i like literary fic, but these short stories felt more like slice of life / meandering, i couldn't figure out the shared theme between these stories. just not for me.

Ed Park writes with witty humor, a sly wink and a nod evident in many of these stories. A lot of them feature writers, so many that I wonder whether that is a unifying theme in this collection. There is one story with an excess of Tinas that made me laugh hard. I haven't read his novels yet, but I'll definitely be checking those out after reading these stories.

This is a book of stories by an author of short fiction whose work has been featured in such places as McSweeney's Internet Tendency and The New Yorker. I consider its style to be in the genre of surrealistic tales that say something about the modern condition. If it's stories about recognizable characters that you might recognize from everyday life, this might not be the book for you. If you like reading unusual and off-kilter stories, then you might like this. These characters tend to give off pathetic vibes, though I don't remember any actual monsters or signs of cruelty or violence. I think he doesn't really aspire to have stories with clear-cut heroes and villains in them. Some of the stories commit to a certain kind of structure where they repeat a form over and over again. Others follow more of a straightforward narrative, though they may have bizarre situations and characters who interact with one another seemingly upon whims. Some of the characters repeat in other stories, though I wouldn't say that the whole collection constitutes a distinct universe of its own with laws that you can figure out. These stories, a few thousand words each, generally give the reader some light emotional payoff at the end, though a few of them suddenly come to a stop in the midst of action.

The title story at the end of the collection stands out as one in the fantasy or magical realism genre more than most of the others. For me, this was also one of the more demanding stories in this collection requiring me to read it through a couple of times to make sure that I understood what was happening. Some of the stories do play with genre techniques such as the one which adopts the form of a spy or heist story. You can tell while you're reading it that it doesn't really take it all seriously. There's another story which takes the point of view character from a member of a cult and you're not sure by reading it how much you're supposed to buy into the odd beliefs that that person has, or whether to hope that they are cured of their strange notions. I like the parts in this story where he is having to deal with parents who were operating under different assumptions about life.

My first book I’ve officially read as an Advanced Reader Copy (thank you Random House Publishing)!
These stories were really cool. I’ve read Park’s Same Bed, Different Dreams, but these stories in An Oral History of Atlantis take on a different feel. There’s this level of interconnectivity that is unique and intriguing throughout. One character from a story may crop up in a different one, a steakhouse may appear in two spots, names may simply be repeated, a specific sci-fi novel. There’s this undertone of metaphysical connection that then ties into the breaking of storytelling boundaries. Every short story seems to use the peripheral of the actual plot and story to tell a different story. This collection is unique and refreshing!
Some standouts stories: The Gift, Weird Menace, Well-Moistened with Cheap Wine…, Eat Pray Click, and Machine Land

The title of this book and the author were the things that called my attention about this collection. I can honestly say that I stayed because of the writing. The stories and written beautifully and in very creative ways. I found myself invested in the lives of past lovers briefly pulled together by a film, or a story written in entirely in conversation format. I would recommend this collection to people that like reading imaginative fiction with a healthy dose of everyday life.

I really enjoyed the inventiveness of the short stories and the feeling of connectivity many of them had. Some wonderful insight.

I really enjoyed the work titled “The Gift” and all I have to say is “it is, what it is.”

Interesting and short read!

I truly have been on a ROLL this year when it comes to just.... totally clicking with all the books/ARCs I've been reading, especially in regards to short stories! This collection was such a propulsive, engaging read from start to finish— I love Park's writing; it's sharp, witty, a little bizarre, but ultimately so much FUN, All of the short stories here felt so— complete, if you will, in how imaginative, clever, and unique they all are from one another, all while still having a through-line embedded deep within them tying them back not just to each another, but to the many overarching themes of the anthology as a whole. Easily another Top Tier™ read for me, and one I most certainly plan on re-reading again and again. Unparalleled talent, absolutely brilliant.

This collection of short stories is nothing if not eclectic! Each piece is technically well written, but I often found myself wondering—what’s the point? Many of the stories felt like writing experiments, and while I appreciate a little creative stretching, I’m not entirely sure what the takeaway was supposed to be. If you enjoy literary puzzles and unconventional storytelling, this might be right up your alley. But if you’re looking for a clear narrative arc or satisfying conclusions, you might find yourself scratching your head as much as I did.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I’m not typically drawn to short story collections, and even when I get excited about new books, I rarely read ARCs more than a month in advance of pub day. And yet when I saw I was approved for this title, I downloaded it and started it almost immediately, even though it doesn’t come out until July.

While I enjoyed these stories, I feel poorly equipped to review them. I mostly felt like they went over my head, which is sadly reinforcing my opinion that I should be wary of short stories, or at least read them with a buddy in the future. These did in fact feel like an oral history in the most literal sense, in that they narrated the mundane, everyday lives of ordinary people. I enjoyed seeing how small details and characters showed up across different stories. And I would venture a guess that the author was doing a lot here that I completely missed. If you’re more confident with short stories than I am, or already a fan of Ed Park, I’d recommend trying this one.

To steal a bit from this book, it's baffling. I started reading it without reading the description or having any idea what it's about. And now I've finished it and I still don't know what it's about.

The stories all have a hazy quality, like waking up from a dream and trying to hang on to what you remember. It's like some past that's not quite right; a familiar world but off kilter.

The stories are strange, poetic in a way, and sometimes absurdly funny. It took me too long to figure out but some are loosely connected. Maybe they all are, who knows.

My favorite was Machine City. I liked the one about a kindle with shuffle mode or something too.

I didn't understand this book at all but it's creative and weird and left me feeling dazed in a good way. I don't think it'll be for everyone but it is what is, right?

An Oral History of Atlantis is a collection of sixteen stories. I was drawn to the cover, intrigued by the blurbs for “Machine City” and “Slide to Unlock,” and looking forward to exploring their themes. I’m not sure how to describe the particular sub-genre of sci-fi/speculative fiction that I’m drawn to, but maybe: techno-existentialism and philosophical sci-fi.

Unfortunately, this collection fell short for me. The stories felt more like ideas than fully developed stories and were all missing something for me.

The idea of algorithmic reading from “Eat Pray Click” intrigued me the most. As an avid reader, algorithmic reading sounds like some fresh hell, but I’m still fascinated by the idea and would love to explore how that would work logistically/programmatically, as well as what this reflects about technology and humanity today, and the intended and unintended consequences of such technology.

For me to say of a book, "I've never read anything like it," should, in most cases, be taken as an indictment of how little I've read. In this case, however, it may be fair to say that Ed Park's upcoming collection, An Oral History of Atlantis, is simply nonpareil.

Early on, I tried to categorize and analogize what I was reading. Perhaps there was a hint of Nabokov's Charles Kinbote in the indignant letter writer of the first story, the hilarious "A Note to my Translator"? Maybe the second story, "Bring on the Dancing Horses," about a melancholy middle-aged man, could be called Murakami-esque? I soon had to give up, as the bulk of this collection exists in a world all its own.

Several of the stories are formally unique, such as "Weird Menace," a transcript of the director's commentary for an old B-movie. The rest are unique in their contents. Who else could imagine an island solely inhabited by scholars on an archaeological dig, every one of whom is named Tina? Or a midget who trails a Dutch writer through a snow-covered Manhattan and discovers a peep show that moves him to tears, the subject of which you would not guess if I gave a thousand tries?

I loved An Oral History of Atlantis, and I intend to pick up a copy of Park's Same Bed Different Dreams in the very near future. The stories were funny and poignant and depressing and deeply, deeply, strange. I've never read anything like it.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'ee found myself reading more and more short story collections as of late. Something about the format and how quickly you can get through any individual story had been really appealing to me, especially since I've been in a reading slump. An Oral History of Atlantis sounded interesting so I decided to request it on NetGalley. I don't think the synopsis even slightly prepared me for this collection.

Most of the stories were great, interesting reads, but the collection really comes together as a whole. Many stories reference each other and have all these connections that you pick up on as your read. Although that may be overselling it a bit, the connections are small, and the references feel more like easter eggs. And its actually my biggest problem with the collection, sometimes the easter eggs took away from my reading experience of any individual story because i was trying to figure out if there were larger tie-ins throughout the book.

I never really did figure this out, I'm sure there would be more to gain on a re-read but thats not really my thing. All in all though an enjoyable collection.

I honestly do not know how to describe this book. I will admit it is a bit hard to follow, but in that sense, the book demonstrates Park’s ideas on life, art, literature, and absurdity. Reminiscent of a more cognizant Ulysses and other stories that switch points of view without expressly saying it, this book was incredibly imaginative and humorous. For fans of philosophy, film, dry humor, and books in general, An Oral History of Atlantis is a delightful and quick read.

I love a fresh, spunky short story collection. Imaginative and immensely worth a dive into the world of Park.

Gorgeous cover art to mirror a gorgeous collection of observations of a daily life. I'm not usually one to read short stories collections, but this one was cheeky, surreal, imaginative, equally light-hearted and tragic—and I had a great time with each one.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the ARC.

Perhaps the strangest collection of short stories this reader has encountered, this is a hard book to categorize, but an easy book to love. Laugh-out-loud funny in places, often sardonic, absurd and always wildly inventive, these short stories contain some repeating characters and straddle situations, including those involving: inane academic gobbledy-gook; communication misfirings; outcasts and nomads; Korean spies; college students reckonings; and of course, lovers and the vulnerable (sometimes where you least expect them).

Within these pages you’re as likely to meet an erudite author sparring with his Machiavellian translator as you are to encounter an ice-in-her-veins lesbian freelance journalist (who is also a Korean spy); seventeen professional translators, all women named “Tina”, living on a remote island; a modified kindle with an ulterior motive; a heartbreakingly lonely midget with a mission; or an irreverent sibling (with an equally strange girlfriend) and a very poor grasp of the internet.

Cheeky, surreal, imaginative, equally light-hearted and tragic, the stories are in some ways reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut, or John Irving, - leading to a rarified collection that is hard to put down, and a wonderful treat to spend time with.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC for this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

*** four and a half shiny stars