The Tiger in the Grass: Stories and Other Inventions

I'm already sad that I have only one more Doerr remaining to read. There are just three titles. I first fell in love with her writing in Stones for Ibarra which I've often said is my all time favorite book. Then came Consider This, Señora (the one remaining to read), and this title, the last book she would write.

Her very limited canon is because, in spite of having a very long life, dying at 92 years old, she only began writing when she was in her late sixties.

In her long life, she must have been collecting, savoring, and "taking heaven pictures" like a friend of mine once called moments captured on the film only in your mind. Doerr described her heaven pictures like this in a passage about a sunset after a day at the beach with her show more young children and young husband, "exerting the full force of my will" she would "hold up the sun, hold back the wave, long enough for me to paint and frame the low tide."

I forgive this collection of short stories -- some autobiographical, some not, some better than others, some out of step or odd to be included with the group -- because she knew she was aging, going blind, and must have known this would be her last collection.

But an uneven collection by Doerr is still something splendid! She can write like no other writer I've read. She indeed does paint and frame. It is immersive to read her, especially if you read her slow, like I did intentionally. Her use of language is as careful as the best poetry, is sparce and sharp. With one sentence and with one phrase in that sentence, you know the resentments, the laments, the long history of moments of happiness or unhappiness of a character. Doerr grants you room to think for yourself, to be still in a place you've never been, to grow to love people who you'll never meet or have never existed. In between her passages, you love your own life because it is yours.

I couldn't be happier this was the first book I selected for my 2024 reading adventures. show less