Ernie's Ark (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Editorial Reviews
Review
“A MASTERPIECE . . . WOOD’S STORIES [ARE] FILLED WITH HOPE AND LIGHT.”
–Titan magazine
“Characters alternate between major and minor roles like players in a Robert Altman film. . . . Wood handles each voice with such grace that she disappears inside it right away. Her prose is careful yet still quivers. . . . Like an honest day’s work, it is both simple and more than enough.”
–San Francisco Chronicle
“The loving character portraits that form [these] stories help us understand not only the people of Maine but also the human condition.”
–The Boston Globe
“QUIETLY WONDERFUL FICTION . . .
Wood does a splendid job of building a whole out of these parts. Each story can easily stand alone, yet every new one contains an object or memory we’ve seen in a previous story, usually from another perspective. The overall effect is one of panorama, the sense that though we haven’t met everyone in Abbott Falls, we’ve cast a good long glance at the range of hopes and heartaches the town contains.”
–The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“A collection of unforeseen awakening and unconditional love . . . It’s clear that this Maine author has plenty of talent to share with the world.”
–Maine Sunday Telegram
“Ernie’s Ark, a series of nine interlinked short stories, contains all the depth and range of emotions that a full-length novel enjoys. . . . [Wood’s] strength is her ability to create clear and sympathetic voices for each of her many characters. By the time you finish reading Ernie’s Ark, you will have a whole chorus of voices in your head, each echoing the rhythms of small-town life.”
–Titan magazine
“An eight-month strike at the paper mill has shivered apart Abbott Falls as neatly as though it were a chunk of mica; in her stories, Wood takes these fragments and holds them up to the light, revealing a world at once self-contained and wonderfully complex. . . . A fine collection by an author whose writing continues to grow with each published work.”
–Down East magazine
“Wood’s gift as a writer is to invest her short stories with real emotion . . . [She] uses deceptively simple language and an obvious sympathy for her characters to keep the tale triumphantly afloat.”
–Casco Bay Weekly
“Wood does a remarkable job of illuminating the characters’ inner lives–from disgruntled union workers to a flower store owner in a troubled marriage–skillfully layering their brief but complex stories with humor, empathy, and melancholy.”
–Publishers Weekly
“Touching . . . These quirky stories reaffirm faith in human resilience.”
–Booklist
Review
?A MASTERPIECE . . . WOOD?S STORIES [ARE] FILLED WITH HOPE AND LIGHT.?
?Titan magazine
?Characters alternate between major and minor roles like players in a Robert Altman film. . . . Wood handles each voice with such grace that she disappears inside it right away. Her prose is careful yet still quivers. . . . Like an honest day?s work, it is both simple and more than enough.?
?San Francisco Chronicle
?The loving character portraits that form [these] stories help us understand not only the people of Maine but also the human condition.?
?The Boston Globe
?QUIETLY WONDERFUL FICTION . . .
Wood does a splendid job of building a whole out of these parts. Each story can easily stand alone, yet every new one contains an object or memory we?ve seen in a previous story, usually from another perspective. The overall effect is one of panorama, the sense that though we haven?t met everyone in Abbott Falls, we?ve cast a good long glance at the range of hopes and heartaches the town contains.?
?The Cleveland Plain Dealer
?A collection of unforeseen awakening and unconditional love . . . It?s clear that this Maine author has plenty of talent to share with the world.?
?Maine Sunday Telegram
?Ernie?s Ark, a series of nine interlinked short stories, contains all the depth and range of emotions that a full-length novel enjoys. . . . [Wood?s] strength is her ability to create clear and sympathetic voices for each of her many characters. By the time you finish reading Ernie?s Ark, you will have a whole chorus of voices in your head, each echoing the rhythms of small-town life.?
?Titan magazine
?An eight-month strike at the paper mill has shivered apart Abbott Falls as neatly as though it were a chunk of mica; in her stories, Wood takes these fragments and holds them up to the light, revealing a world at once self-contained and wonderfully complex. . . . A fine collection by an author whose writing continues to grow with each published work.?
?Down East magazine
?Wood?s gift as a writer is to invest her short stories with real emotion . . . [She] uses deceptively simple language and an obvious sympathy for her characters to keep the tale triumphantly afloat.?
?Casco Bay Weekly
?Wood does a remarkable job of illuminating the characters? inner lives?from disgruntled union workers to a flower store owner in a troubled marriage?skillfully layering their brief but complex stories with humor, empathy, and melancholy.?
?Publishers Weekly
?Touching . . . These quirky stories reaffirm faith in human resilience.?
?Booklist
Ernie's Ark (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Ernie's Ark (Ballantine Reader's Circle),Monica Wood,Ballantine Books,0345452720,Fiction,Fiction - General,Literary,Maine,Popular American Fiction,Short Stories (single author),Social life and customs,Fiction / Short Stories (single author)
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