Witty, strange, and sneakily profound, An Oral History of Atlantis is a sharp, surreal exploration of identity, memory, and the absurdity of modern life.

An eclectic short story collection from Ed Park, An Oral History of Atlantis, explores elements of a society frayed by technology, immigration, loss of subcultures and humanities (the school subject). The stories at first seemed fragmented until recurring characters begin popping up, asking the reader to pay closer attention to the thread that runs through each tale.

I enjoyed this collection, I found myself picking it up and putting it down over the course of two weeks, and each time I read a new story I was surprised by the voices that populated the pages. Many of the stories left me feeling unsettled, wrong footed, every time I anticipated something happen Park would swing the story in a different direction entirely.

I'd recommend this book to my friends when it comes out, looking forward to seeing the book in stores IRL.

Some stories are great, some are just good, then there are a few meh.

I think Park's novel is a better display of his talent. In longer form, the po-mo setups have time to pay off. Not all the short stories landed for me. But the ones I loved, I really loved. The wife on Ambien was hilarious.

Theme: 2 stars - there wasn't anything tying these stories together
Writing: 4 stars

Ed Park has a keen eye, a quick tongue and is as smart
as he is observant. Each story is its own statement.
Each statement is relevant. Lives are built from
individual, relevant statements.
This is the book I will want to have in the bookcase
next to the Pulitzer, Nobel, and every other
indicator of accepted accomplishment.
My thanks to Random House
for offering this book for my
reviews, which are completely voluntary and
completely my own thoughts

i say this every time i read a short story collection, so it’s kind of a tradition by now: short stories aren’t really for me. i have yet to ever rate a collection like this 5 stars, and if a pulitzer prize finalist can’t even get me there, i think that’s pretty solid proof! not to say that this was bad — i’m just not really the audience for it.

one thing that i enjoyed with this collection was the little strands of connection interwoven through the stories. sometimes it was something as small as the same town being mentioned in two different stories, but i really like noticing small details like that! part of my issue with short stories is i often feel like i’m left wanting, so having that sense of interconnectedness assuages that feeling a bit. of course, not every one can have those details, so there were a few that i didn’t quite “get” or that i thought were too abrupt. overall, my favorites were “a note to my translator”, “the gift”, “watch your step”, and “seven women”. if you’re more of a short story person than i am, you will probably enjoy this!

Short stories are a hard sell for me, but An Oral History of Atlantis was enjoyable start to finish. Ed Park's wordsmithing is exceptional, allowing for some truly hilarious turns of phrase and insightful observations. My favorite by far was "The Gift." Any reader who appreciates cheeky literary craftsmanship will enjoy this collection. Recommended.

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.