Cheating at Canasta: Stories

Trevor is always a joy to read; his ability to plumb the depths of disparate characters astonishes me every time. This is a late collection for the author; he was nearly 80 when this was published. What interests him here are the life partnerships we choose (or which are thrust upon us) and the way those relationships define us. There are married couples here, but also others. One story is of a priest and the sister who "saved" him from an engagement, and when he took orders, wrapped her life around his like kudzu and made his path hers. (This story, though brilliantly crafted, was actually my least favorite to read. It was undramatically sad throughout, but I thought it was a fascinating type of relationship, siblings who become sort show more of married old couples, that few of us ever think much about.) The last is a story about a man whose childhood friend, really a brother of choice, disappears for years, is presumed dead, and then reappears after everyone has aged or passed, with every one of their lives and their interpersonal relationships radically changed by their perceived loss. There are two stories of men with younger women, one of whom blows up his family and then returns willingly to his former unhappiness and another who is left by his lover, whom he met when she was his student, because she is still evolving and growing with a universe of possibility before her, and he is an old man content in his love and settledness. I loved most of these stories, but a couple were good rather than great (including that final story I mentioned, and the title story.) This man is a treasure! show less

While I did not appreciate this collection quite as much as I have others by Trevor, his usual skill in storytelling and style prevail. The twelve stories here are, if not exactly sad, wistful or regretful. Nearly all involve characters who have experienced the death of a loved one, the death of a relationship, or some other form of longing or loss, and the thin Irish melancholy pervades them all. I do agree with the LT reviewer who feels that Trevor is best writing about the 1960s and '70s, and that the contemporary stories seem a bit lacking in truth. But, as always, Trevor is well worth the time.

Twelve unrelated short stories, most of which were first published in the New Yorker Magazine, were put together for this collection in 2007. Despite the general excellence of Trevor's writing the stories didn't always please me. Partly I think this was because the topics bounced around. Still, very much worth the read and a reminder to me to read more by this author.

I should mention that these are all sad melancholic stories mostly about people with unhappy lives or parts of life. So there is a theme of sorts. The first story in the book was my favorite and set the tone for the book. It has been a while since I have read William Trevor but I think I prefer his stories written earlier in life.

As was to be expected, all the Trevor trademarks are still thriving and in excellent use - terrific lines, acute and insightful observations of human nature and that ever present bleak realism. Every story is a gem, and most were previously published in The New Yorker, but the last one, "Folie a Deux," really hit a nerve. It’s about a summer friendship of two boys of the age of nine, and a horrible event that happens because of their foolishness that they never recover from, even into adulthood. I don’t know how he sustains such a high level of writing, and avoids becoming formulaic after hundreds of stories over the years, but I don’t think the guy is capable of writing an insipid short story.

I noticed that two people tagged this book "read now" and read right now" and that's exactly what I did after buying it, despite having a large stack of unread books. Having anticipated reading Trevor's stories in the New Yorker over the last few years to the point where I check the contributors page first for his name, I welcomed this collection. These are stories that you don't soon forget. The writing is subtle and insightful and depicts some of the wonderful, and sometimes not wonderful, things that we do to ourselves and each other. Reading some for the second time is even better.

As short stories go, these are pretty good. The characters are well enough developed that the reader can have some understanding of what makes them tick - more so than in some novels I've read. As I've said before, Trevor is very good at creating a mood, a feeling. This tells you a lot about the situation that he's describing. The stories are largely about Ireland and Irish society, and, while I don't have any first hand experience, I reckon he's done a pretty good job of picturing the society for us.

Notwithstanding these positive comments, I do still prefer a full length novel to a short story....I sometimes felt Trevor was rushing the plot a little.

A collection of short stories that I slowly began to realize are all about relationships. I enjoyed the title story Cheating at Canasta the most and was unable to read the final story which mostly involved the death of a pet dog but all were very good. Quiet and well-written.