Like all Doctorow's books I enjoyed it as he gives us so much to think about and there is simply some very brilliant writing; for that matter there are a couple of paragraphs that are some of the best written I have ever read. That being said, the reason for my rating is this is one those Doctorow books that is so frustrating in, what I have to call, experimental writing. Some flows some elevates the reader some forces you to think and reread sections to be able to get your mind around it. Finally there is a certain unevenness about it that spoils the beauty you find. It is distracting and to me spoils the reading experience. Maybe my problem is I am reading his books in the reverse order they were written

In many ways it feels almost like the precursor to City of God and leaves me feeling not quite satisfied but not disappointed. No matter what, Doctorow is a true author: not a writer, not a story-teller, but one of the best authors of his time. To me, author and is the highest praise that can be given to any writer and Doctorow's death was a loss to all of us who relish a good book. ( )

The collection includes six short stories and a novella. The first four stories were decent, but not great. Some of them just needed more time to develop everything. I wasn’t impressed with the last two stories. They were just too postmodern for my taste.

The novella, also called Lives of the Poets, was an 80 page stream of consciousness rambling narrated by a writer, that mostly consisted of his thoughts about his friends’ failed and failing relationships. It was hard to read because everything ran together without a real plot. I actually found I liked it more when I was reading for a few minutes at a time during television commercials. When I was just reading with no breaks, I couldn’t concentrate on the text.

I do have to give Doctorow credit for using the word “flooping,” a word I thought my family had made up to describe our dog’s movements in the park. My dad and I both about died laughing over this sentence because it’s so silly and because we were so surprised that anyone else used that word: “The simplest thing, which corner to turn two blocks from home, can leave you as eerily as a hundred fifty thousand gray bats flooping out of Hubbard’s Cave.” I actually just gave him an extra star on this book for that. ( )

I'm not sure if this was a hit-and-miss collection of stories so much as maybe a constant "bump." There's no arguing Doctorow is talented and can turn a phrase, but I was reading these stories because I kept thinking there would be just a little bit more to the characters . . . just a little bit more to make it a good read rather than an okay read. By the time I closed the book, I think I was left with an okay read.

Thinking about it more, I feel like his writing is similar to Nadine Gordimer's. I can't put my finger on why though.

I'd give Doctorow another shot, maybe his characters are better in other books. ( )

Could not get into several of the stories. ( )