A collection of immersive short stories - many leaving you ever so slightly on edge as the tales wove across each chapter.

Short story collections are always hit-or-miss for me, but this one was an unexpected delight and one of the best I've ever read. The stories were loosely connected, often very funny, and always deeply weird. I haven't read Park's Pulitzer-nominated novel yet, but I'm adding it to my TBR because I'd love to see where he takes his stories when he has a longer run with the characters. (And I read this while I was on vacation in Paris, so it will always have an extra-fond place in my memory!)

This was my first time reading Ed Park and I enjoyed it! An interesting and, at times, funny, collection of short stories that demonstrate the author's talent through range. All the stories were different - in either themes, length, or topics. You never knew what you were going to get! Though not all the stories landed for me, I enjoyed the time I spent with this book.

I received an ARC of this collection from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"I have seen things I never wished to see, and every night I hear the ocean."

This is the perfect short story collection to me. Stories range from 2 page missives to 30 page character studies, exploring a plethora of genres throughout. I was thoroughly entertained and wish this collection was longer! The writing is excellent, each story had its own distinct ambiance and I will certainly be picking up more Ed Park in the future.

3.5 stars

This is an intriguing collection of short stories that live up to their name. I really enjoyed how succinct these were. This made the collection particularly readable. The tradeoff is that the reader may be left wanting a little more development at times, but overall, these will keep audiences engaged.

These may run a little "artistic" or "literary" for some, but more experienced readers will appreciate the techniques and choices here.

A really gorgeous collection of short stories. I love short stories and found these ones especially fun to read.

The experience as a whole was immersive and even a bit hallucinatory—characters that you could have dreamt about before in a very strange dream, but written believably enough that they might actually live around the corner from you. My favorites were "The Wife on Ambien", "The Gift", and "Watch Your Step".

Park's writing is witty, experienced and imaginative. I'm confident that certain descriptions will be living rent free in my head for a while.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

I’ve never read any of Ed Park’s other work, but I enjoyed this enough to put his other books on my TBR. The stories in here were all enjoyable, and while there might be similarities in terms of characters, each story stood as its own thing. Weird Menace was a standout, but there weren’t any that felt like a slog. Each story was engaging and breezy, but felt like it had hidden depths. A good book to break out of a slump, and it lends itself to rereads.

An Oral History of Atlantis is a collection of short stories written by one of our time’s greats - Ed Park. His 2023 novel, Same Bed Different Dreams is incredible and is must read lit, if you ask me.

These stories are told from a variety of perspectives and each one is unique. Finishing one story and moving on to the next was like moving on to the next candy in a box of chocolates (insert the Forrest Gump quote here…)

My favorites were:
Machine City. I loved Park’s descriptive story telling here, I really felt like I was there, watching all of it happen. At one point, I felt like part of this story was happening in my freshman year dorm. Having the story overlaid there in my brain was pretty creepy, in a good way.

An Accurate Account. The ending was perfect. This kind of thing is what can make short stories so satisfying.

The Gift. If you ask me, you’re lucky if you have a professor story like this. It also reminded me of my Dad, who was assuredly NOT a professor - but loved a good aphorism

If you enjoyed Same Bed Different Dreams, read this ASAP. If you’re curious about Same Bed Different Dreams don’t hesitate to read this either. These bite-sized servings are set up to be some great summer reading.

Sharp, fast and mostly very funny stories. I can't really discern a common theme, although movies, writing, college years come back a lot. And many of the stories end a little too abruptly, but all of them are original and superbly written.

Already on the first page I was laughing out loud, as an author is angry at his translator for taking too many liberties:

"The novel begins with a hailing of the muse and a quick history of man’s moral awakening, mastery of his surroundings, and subsequent fall from grace. In my version. In your version, a man named Mr. Henry enters a flat in London and discovers that his wife is taking stomach medication."

My favourite was 'Machine City', about a student inadvertently ending up as an actor in a movie.

I am now very curious about Ed Park's novel 'Same Bed Different Dreams'.

Thanks to Random House for the advance copy!

This is my first foray into Ed Park's writing and, in hindsight, a collection of short stories is probably one of the best ways to get introduced to a new writer. In "An Oral History of Atlantis", Park weaves his way through a number of different settings, characters, and themes.

A few stories that stood out to me: In "The Wife on Ambien" , a husband describes his wife on the referenced medication, piecing together a haphazard, eerily unrealistic individual who seemingly does everything and anything. "Bring on the Dancing Horses" where the boyfriend to a science fiction writer describes his daily life with his girlfriend and muses on the complicated relationship he has with his siblings and parents. In "Watch Your Step", two friends in South Korea meet to frequently discuss and decode the cryptic messages one receives until the one of them eventually disappears.

The stories are set in realistic, tangible places - but never quite feel quite right; there's a subliminal off-kilter wrench (or two) thrown in. They're set in a number of different places with a broad variety of characters, but many center on the themes of education, art and literature, and the complex and ever-changing relationships between people. I appreciated as well that some stories were loosely interconnected and characters made appearances in more than just one. Park is clearly a talented writer, but I found that many stories were hit-or-miss for me - some felt truly bizarre and confusing.

I give the book 3.5 stars. I like short stories. I hadn't read anything from the author before. I read that he had won numerous literary awards I was excited to read his book.

The book has numerous short stories. Some of the short stories were really good. However, the next story did not keep my attention. The stories were not related. It was hard for me to go from story to story. Some of the stories I wanted more from.

The writing was good. I can see why he has won literary awards. He uses mainly good vocabulary ( except for the word midget and laugh). Sometimes the writing was good but I had to stop and think about what he was writing. It was so eloquent but maybe I had to stop and think about what he was writing about.

The book isn't too long. The stories are not long. It might be the perfect book for someone else.

I am grateful to the author and Netgalley for the opportunity to read these short stories. I would like to read a book from the author in the future.

An eclectic collection of short stories .Some will have you laughing while others will make you think.
Different types of storytelling methods and genres. Beautiful prose.
#AnOralHistoryofAtlantis #RandomHouse #NetGalley

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for an advance copy of this short story collection by an author that that we will be talking about in the future, both for his skill in writing, for the ideas he offers, and the joy he gives readers.

True confession time. I read a lot of short story collections, but in a way I don't read them. I jump around, trying a few sentences, see if the characters are worth knowing more about, flit around the pages, judge the length Goldilocks style, too short, too long, maybe just right. Does not matter if it is a collection by one author, or an anthology. As with everything I do, there are exceptions. I don't skip through Harlan Ellison stories, not his anthologies. I don't skip through Mark Leyner collections. And now I won't be skipping through Ed Park. A long time has passed since I have read straight through a short story collection, nor felt the way I felt at the end. A mixture of sadness about the ride ending, and a thrill of knowing there might be more out there. An Oral History of Atlantis by Ed Park is a collection of stories, that share a future, maybe, share a past, possibly, but will enthrall and amaze readers, something I have no felt for a long time.

The book contains sixteen stories, of various length, from a page or two, to much longer. The stories are written in different ways, from epistolary to DVD commentary, to changing points of view, to almost blog-like confessions. The stories aren't linked, thought they share character names, movie names, classic story names, and steakhouse places. They could be called speculative fiction, maybe stories from a timeline next door, or around a corner. The book starts with a story dealing with an author writing to his translator, A Note to my Translator, wondering why there was so much added to his story that didn't appear in the text. The Wife on Ambien is like a bragging letter about how cool a wife can be when she is sleep-deprived and high on pills. Another deals with an actress currently a restaurant owner, and a director giving commentary to a movie that shares a name with a female rock band. A man buys his old childhood clothing from his mother on Ebay. And so on.

From the first page I was locked in to the book. The writing, the ideas the ways the story went wouldn't let me skip. In many ways if was like first discovering books that were outside of my genre, especially the 90's writers I used to enjoy. Like Mark Leyner and David Bowman. Or other magical realists. One has no idea where the stories are going to go, from inviting neighbors over and having them eat to much coffee cake, or a group of women with the same name looking for lost treasures on an island. Usually I can find a story or two that didn't hit or register with me, this is the first time in awhile I can say I read everything in the book, sometimes twice.

One finds common themes, character names, ages, book references, which is great as the book rewards careful reading. And re-reading. And discussions. For I shall be talking about this book as much as people will let me. I have read Ed Park's previous novel Same Bed Different Dreams and was in awe at how good it was. This just proves how great an author Park is, and that he is really going places. Places I can not wait to see. For fans of short stories, and books that make one happy to read, to be alive, and to want more.

An Oral History of Atlantis
By Ed Park

This is a book of short stories – or more like vignettes. Some characters are found in more than one story, some only in one. I am not sure what exactly the author's point is here, but I must say that his writing does not need a point to catch the reader's attention. Even if the reader must drag out a dictionary to understand all the words Mr. Park uses, these stories leave the reader with a sense of accomplishment just for getting through them.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

This started off so well -- I couldn't stop laughing out loud. Even the more serious stories were engrossing, and I felt totally connected to the author and the words on the page. Then, about 3/4 of the way through, things felt different. Yes, the stories got more serious, but also I just didn't feel the emotional attachment that I felt earlier.

Nevertheless, the first 3/4 was fabulous, and the author has a new fan.

Will I read more from the author? Umm, hell yes.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

AN ORAL HISTORY OF ATLANTIS REVIEW
RATING: 3.25
GENRE: Short Stories, Literary Fiction

This was my first introduction to Ed Park’s work. I’ve heard of him and had always had his books on my TBR list. Since it was a collection of short stories, I got exposure to many different type of storytelling methods and genres - ranging from a conversation, a letter, snippets of daily life, etc. I would say that Park has a beautiful way of writing, so if you enjoy prose, reach for this book.

I would say as I read through each story, my interest in the book began to wane. The initial batch of stories had grabbed my attention but began to fall flat towards the middle and the rest of the book. I usually enjoy obscure settings and speculative fiction but this wasn’t for me. I do intend to check out of the rest of Park’s works though as a comparison.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Short stories tend to be hit or miss with me, so I'm glad I ended up enjoying this collection. I was not familiar with any of the author's previous work but I really enjoyed his creative use of language and how themes repeated themselves throughout the story collection. Recurring plot points included science fiction (books and movies), things named "Weird Menace" (bands and movies), women named Tina and/or Hannah, characters who were romantically involved with much older women, and the potentially questionable choice of the author (a straight male) to write from the perspective of various lesbian characters. I liked how characters would appear in each other's stories, or references from one story would be important to another story later on. The gentle interweaving of people, places, and things really pointed to the interconnectedness that we all share as humans trying to get through this century together in one piece. Overall, I found "The Oral History of Atlantis" to be an interesting read that held my attention, although I didn't notice the humor or emotional resonance that other readers have mentioned. I saw this book on a website list of books to enjoy this summer and I think that is a perfect suggestion.

I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for access to a digital ARC. My honest review is my own opinion.

This collection was sharp, at times hilarious look at the human condition showcasing Park's mastery of language. Some of the stories ended abruptly, either indicating that he didn't have a clear idea of how to wrap it up and didn't want to belabor it or that he'd said all he had to say on the subject and that was that. All in all, I loved his wit and style and will look for more of his work.

3

setting: Japan, USA, possibly others
Rep: Korean-American author

admittedly I don't usually vibe with short story collections but the title and cover appealed to me so I gave this one a go. I genuinely don't know what I can say about it. some stories I appreciated (or at least understood) but a lot made no sense at all to me. not in a bad way necessarily, just not for me. but it was a really quick read and I liked enough of the ideas.