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3+ Works 269 Members 20 Reviews

Works by Steve Amick

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McSweeney's Issue 3: Windfall Republic (1999) — Contributor — 95 copies

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Common Knowledge

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This book was a surprise. From the first chapter I figured this would be light reading, a comedy of errors type of tale, a dozen different people experiencing crisis in their lives. The ending pulls off a happy ending for many of them, but even from those whose downward spiral takes them off the deep end, we learn lessons.
Amick really pictured the joking approach taken by many local Native Americans.
 
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juniperSun | 8 other reviews | Mar 17, 2019 |
In "Nothing but a Smile" (Pantheon, $24.95), Steve Amick's jaunty romp through World War II-era Chicago, Wink Dutton spends most of his time trying not to feel foolish as he struggles to keep up with Sal Chesterton. She's the wife of his army buddy who's still stationed abroad, but she's keeping the home fires warm by producing homemade pinup photos starring herself. Discharged from the service for a minor wound, Wink finds himself living down the hall from her and helping her make those salacious pictures. Amick's tone is PG-13-dirty and cotton-candy light; he seems to consider a woman who profits cannily from pornography an avatar of feminism -- admittedly a far cry from the Hefner approach. From the WASHINGTON POST, 4/29/09… (more)
 
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MikeLindgren51 | 10 other reviews | Aug 7, 2018 |
This book kept me interested and I became invested in the lives and fortunes of many of the characters. It is a "slice-of-life" look at a small town and some of it inhabitants. Parts of the story were a bit raunchier than I had anticipated - it is not always folksy and clean-cut, but then neither are real people. The author could swing from social satire to explicit sex to excruciatingly touching moments with ease. There is no overarching plot with a neat beginning, middle, and end, no hero or villain, but rather a peek into a few months in the lives of some fairly ordinary people doing fairly ordinary things.

After reading some online reviews of this book I hesitated to even read it, but one reviewer who compared this author to Richard Russo convinced me to give it a try and I'm glad I did. It's a worthwhile read with some memorable folks.
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½
 
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glade1 | 8 other reviews | Dec 5, 2016 |
Aww, this gets the Julie stamp of approval for sure. Romance novel written by a guy, with just enough history, social commentary, and ART to keep it interesting. Plot was tight, if a little tidy (but sometimes life is like that), prose was perfect and all the characters were adorable. Also, local color.
 
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juliehath | 10 other reviews | Sep 17, 2014 |

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Works
3
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Rating
½ 3.5
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ISBNs
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