My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead

This was probably the best Valentine's present ever. Almost 600 pages of classic and not-so-classic love stories, carefully edited by Eugenides, who is officially the best short-story anthology editor I've ever encountered (and not a half-bad novelist, either). The stories deal with "love" in all its forms, from lust to infatuation to romance to real true commitment, in marriage and outside marriage, old, young, beautiful and wince-inducing. Recommended to the married folks mostly. (Probably not a book to hand to your teenager, either.)

Eugenides subtitles his book with the phrase “great love stories”, but he cautions his readers in his introductory remarks that this is not a book of gooey, sappy stories. There are no happy endings here. But, unless you are a person who takes great pleasure in Harlequins, you will find every story a little masterpiece and you will “love” this book. (Remembering, of course, that “love”, even the love of books, is not always a pleasant experience.)

My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead is a compilation of short stories selected by Jeffrey Eugenides, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Middlesex. Above all, Eugenides’ collection is thoughtful; these stories span the globe and the centuries, creating a diverse and provocative reading experience. Unlike many story compilations, there are no ‘dogs’ mixed up in this one. Each story is a gem in its own right. But readers should approach My Mistress’s Sparrow with caution. Although the ostensible theme of this compilation is love, there’s very little here that conforms to our idea of sweet, romantic love. Rather, these stories capture the underbelly of love: the agony of unrequited passion, the uncertainty of moral ambiguity, and the show more detritus of failed relationships. This collection was released right around Valentine’s Day. I feel sorry for the poor suckers who gifted this collection to their sweethearts, hoping to make a good (and romantic) impression.

This review also appears on my blog Literary License (short reviews, real opinions): litlicense.blogspot.com show less

The stories are distinct & mostly brilliant - even the ones I don't care for. Probably the best collection of stories I have ever read - even the ones I don't care about match up well. Nice job, Eugenides!

(I will argue that 68 pages (I'm looking at YOU, James Joyce!) is NOT a short story, & anyway shouldn't be included in a collection, where it completely disrupts the ambiance, the flow of story-to-story that a really good collection creates. This collection creates that ambiance. & then some.
It is anyway perhaps worth noting that I read the Joyce story - but not the Chekov.)

... I hate reviews that review before the reviewer has read the book (all those five-star reviews of Midnight Sun before it was even released? Come on.), so I have show more to admit - I haven't finished this yet. But the first half was brilliant, and I don't feel like I'm cheating so much because they're short stories! It's not like the ending is going to ruin it. show less

I've already reviewed a couple of the stories in this collection, so I'll go ahead and offer up an opinion of the collection as a whole (which is more difficult).

Of course, I loved some stories and really didn't like others and was ambivalent about the rest. (Actually, Harold Brodkey was the only author with two stories in the book; they happened to be, respectively, one of my favorites and my absolute least favorite almost-didn't-get-through-it. What should I make of that?) Eugenides has done a fine job of curating a wide range of styles and viewpoints. In the introduction he emphasizes that his subject is not love but the love story, then goes on to offer us an array of evidence that proves him to be true to his mission.

I appreciate a show more collection like this that helps me discover authors I may not have found time for otherwise. For example, the inclusion of "Jon" by George Saunders has convinced me I want to read more by him. show less

This was probably the best Valentine's present ever. Almost 600 pages of classic and not-so-classic love stories, carefully edited by Eugenides, who is officially the best short-story anthology editor I've ever encountered (and not a half-bad novelist, either). The stories deal with "love" in all its forms, from lust to infatuation to romance to real true commitment, in marriage and outside marriage, old, young, beautiful and wince-inducing. Recommended to the married folks mostly. (Probably not a book to hand to your teenager, either.)

These aren't love stories that explore the beauty of love, but rather love stories that explore the hurt of love delayed or unfulfilled.