Lust and Other Stories

Susan Minot's prose is spellbinding as always, gutting in its minimalist style. However, I think that beautiful style that works so well in novels actually works against her in the short story setting. Because there is so little time in a short story to set up a character's life and the world in which they live, and therefore so little time for the reader to get to know these women, Minot's protagonists come off distant and cold more often than I think she intends them to. This is a worthwhile buy for a true Minot fan, but more casual readers would do better to purchase her outstanding novel, Evening.

Meh...for me it was a little dated- -- didn't have the post-modern feel that i thought it would. The stories, although told from a woman's point of view, seem to have the woman always in a position of being the one who views herself as a notch below the man or men in her life. As if pondering her position of relative weakness. Although Minot writes well, it wasn't enough to do it for me.

Every male character is fundamentally bad, not even in a surprising way. The stories as individual works and as a collection were not memorable though a couple of the lead stories were well done.

The first story, Lust, was very good. Sadly, the same can not be said for the rest of the book. I found the other stories boring and tedious. I made it through about 3/4 of the book before realizing it wasn't going to get any better.

When this book first came out, I picked it up out of curiosity and to this day, it is still one of my favorite reads. With haunting poetry and beautiful prose, the verses whisper of things left unsaid and desires fulfilled. There is heartbreak, pain, sexual identities being awakened, realized and explored, as well as so much more layered within the pages of this book. It may not be for everyone, but it is a wonderful compliment to my library, and a perfect rainy day read.

I think the mini stories written within the book for each chapter were ok, but not the most fulfilling. It was semi-worth it as a beach read on vacation.

Susan is a very accomplished writer, witha true understanding of her subject.The title says it all.

I read one of the stories in his collection for creative writing class and became hooked! An excellent read!

Arrived quickly, no damage - good condition. A steamy read!