Download Then We Saw the Flames: Stories (Juniper Prize for Poetry) fb2, epub

by Daniel A. Hoyt

ISBN: 1558496998
Author: Daniel A. Hoyt
Language: English
Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press; 1 edition (April 28, 2009)
Pages: 128
Category: Short Stories & Anthologies
Subcategory: Literature
Rating: 4.5
Votes: 384
Size Fb2: 1307 kb
Size ePub: 1589 kb
Size Djvu: 1699 kb
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Daniel A. Hoyt Short Stories and Anthologies English

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A wonderful book that brings together thirteen stories that are odd bedfellows―now realist, now magical . Daniel A. Hoyt seems to have a fetish for the unsatisfied.

A wonderful book that brings together thirteen stories that are odd bedfellows―now realist, now magical, now minimalist, now no. Reading his first book, Then We Saw the Flames, is something like riding through an old-time dark ride as Hoyt guides us through thirteen portraits of men, women, and children struggling to find satisfaction and meaning in their existence, or, sometimes more importantly, simply in the moments of their lives.

Start by marking Then We Saw the Flames: Stories as Want to Read . Juniper Prize for Fiction (2009). This book is perfection. Each story could be the climax, the quintessential way to finish.

Start by marking Then We Saw the Flames: Stories as Want to Read: Want to Read savin. ant to Read. I read this same author's novel, This Book is Not for You. The novel was exquisite, but his short stories are masterful.

Series: Juniper Prize for Poetry

Series: Juniper Prize for Poetry. In this freewheeling debut collection, Daniel A. Hoyt takes us from the swamps of Florida to the streets of Dresden, to the skies above America, to the tourist hotels of Acapulco, to the southwest corner of Nebraska. In each of these stories, characters find themselves challenged by the political, cultural, and spiritual forces that define their lives. With a clear eye and a steady hand, Hoyt explores a fragile balance: the flames-fueled by love, loss, hope, and family-shed new light on us. Sometimes we feel warmth, and sometimes we simply burn.

Daniel A. Hoyt is an associate professor at Kansas State University. His first story collection, Then We Saw the Flames, won the Juniper Prize for Fiction and was published by the University of Massachusetts Press.

His first short-story collection, Then We Saw the Flames, won the Juniper Prize for Fiction. Hoyt lives in Manhattan, Kansas, where he directs the creative-writing program at Kansas State University. This year, at forty-five, he took up mountain biking. His first short-story collection, Then We Saw the Flames, won the Juniper Prize for Fiction.

A wonderful book that brings together thirteen stories that are odd bedfellows-now realist . Winner of the Juniper Prize for Fiction. Related Subjects: Fiction and Poetry.

A wonderful book that brings together thirteen stories that are odd bedfellows-now realist, now magical, now minimalist, now no. With plenty of entertainment crammed between the covers, Then We Saw the Flames is a great short fiction pick. Hoyt is a brave and capable writer and his collection provides an entertaining and exciting read. -North Dakota Quarterly. Hoyt teaches in the English Department at Baldwin-Wallace College. A volume in the series: Juniper Prize for Fiction.

Winner of the Juniper Prize for Fiction. Sometimes magical, sometimes realistic, sometimes absurd, these stories reveal people teetering on the dangerous edge of their lives. In Amar, a Turkish restaurant owner deals with skinheads and the specter of violence that haunts his family.

The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published during. It has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published during the preceding calendar year. Finalists have been announced since 1980, ordinarily two others beside the winner.

In this freewheeling debut collection, Daniel A. Hoyt takes us from the swamps of Florida to the streets of Dresden, to the skies above America, to the tourist hotels of Acapulco, to the southwest corner of Nebraska. Along the way, we encounter a remarkable group of characters all struggling to find their footing in an unsettling world. Sometimes magical, sometimes realistic, sometimes absurd, these stories reveal people teetering on the dangerous edge of their lives. In "Amar," a Turkish restaurant owner deals with skinheads and the specter of violence that haunts his family. In "Boy, Sea, Boy," a shipwrecked sailor receives a surreal visitor, a version of himself as a child. In "The Collection," a father and son squander a trove of bizarre and fanciful objects. And in "The Kids," a suburban couple grasp for meaning after discovering children eating from their trash. In each of these stories, characters find themselves challenged by the political, cultural, and spiritual forces that define their lives. With a clear eye and a steady hand, Hoyt explores a fragile balance: the flames―fueled by love, loss, hope, and family―shed new light on us. Sometimes we feel warmth, and sometimes we simply burn.

Comments:

Hunaya

Daniel A. Hoyt seems to have a fetish for the unsatisfied. Reading his first book, Then We Saw the Flames, is something like riding through an old-time dark ride as Hoyt guides us through thirteen portraits of men, women, and children struggling to find satisfaction and meaning in their existence, or, sometimes more importantly, simply in the moments of their lives. Sometimes, the subjects break from their portraits and find the path with us and walk away from their scenes and find that meaning. Sometimes, they find solace and acceptance in the dissatisfaction. And sometimes, the lights shut out on the scene and we move on to the next as the subjects continue to stumble around in the dark.

However, in all cases, Hoyt shows mastery akin to that of a fine chef; not only does he combine the right ingredients in each offering, but he also selects the right tools for the job. There is an understanding and a harmony between the voice and the subject matter in each piece; words are carefully selected and placed, and at the end, there are very few leftovers. Each story fills us in a way that only real literature can. And while each story is very different in its tone, subjects, and what happens to them at the end, they're all clearly from the same kitchen, and this signature is comforting.

The stories themselves, though, are not comforting. They are, after all, about the unsatisfied. Instead, they make us think about the way that we live our own lives. I hesitate to call Then We Saw the Flames a self-help book because that term carries a lot of stigmas and associations that I'd like to avoid in this review, but through the right lens, Hoyt has certainly created a work that we can compare our own lives to and say, "Look at this. If these people can find meaning in these moments of their lives, then so can I." If we look carefully, we can look at their dissatisfaction, or the way that they're treated, or the way they treat others, or what they do, or even what they eat. We can see the same patterns running through our own lives and we can say, "I don't want to be this anymore." And maybe, in a strange way, we can find comfort here after all.

If Dan does have this fetish for exploring the unsatisfied, we should be thankful that he's baring it for us. Everything here is momentary and fleeting; it all reveals itself in flashes of meaning that his characters can only glimpse at and try to hang on to. This works incredibly well in Dan's book because it's true of real life; maybe there isn't one over-arching meaning for our whole lives. We have to find it in these moments and live in them before the lights go out again, and we're taken to the next part of the ride. And when we get there, we have to find meaning there, too.