A mixed bag. Cloudland is excellent though. ( )

15 short stories, which introduce characters searching for a connection. There is the volunteer at a dog shelter dealing with the pain of having to euthanize some pets, a young woman dealing with infidelity in her marriage, and an older woman struggling with the long-term effects of giving up her newborn when she was a teenager.

I was underwhelmed by this collection of writing, and I think it is unfair to call them stories as some of them are only a page in length. The book reminds me of a story about how John Belushi used to show up for writers with a bunch of notes scribbled on napkins. This book is the equivalent of a gifted writers notes, but why it was published in this format is a puzzle. ( )

Another great story collection. ( )

2.5 stars.
Amy Hempel's award-winning The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel was chock-full of absorbing, somewhat dog-centric tales, with formal artistry and quirky characters. Her latest collection proves that she has been doing something the past thirteen years. The main problem is the brevity and insignificance of what is on display here. Any selection of her earlier work is superior, and most of the pieces in this tiny collection are clearly flash fiction. There is only one full-length story, which delivers. There were several question marks popping into my head when I read the lesser ones. Remove all of the negative space in the book and you will end up with out 50 full-length pages.

One other thing I fail to understand is why the publisher thought it necessary to state on the cover: "By the Award-Winning author of The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel".

In the end, this is a footnote-sized collection for Hempel completionists. I don't think it's my fault that I'm beginning to question my appreciation for an author I used to rank with Lorrie Moore and Joy Williams. Still, an influential author with a style all her own. I highly suggest her earlier collection over this one. ( )

"Cloudland," the final and longest story, is the one you buy the book for. It articulates the full expression of Hempel's project in this collection. It is written in a voice that is free from the inconvenient bother of interpersonal attachments and clouded by the intrusion of rote facts picked up from the refuse of information age existence. I'm currently reading Ducks, Newburyport, which does all of that but more convincingly and with heart and I think that's what I didn't like about these stories. They are clearly the work of a craftsman. The prose is precise and organized. The stories show off incredible skill in concision and pacing. By the time I finished the last page, however, I found myself a little fed up. The narrative voice feels numb, the kind of numb you get when emotions are too intense to express, yet here that numbness never resolves in dynamic ways. Everything is valued in the same gray tones.

I understand this is likely Hempel's point - she is clearly in command of her work - but the effect is hopeless and bitter. Hempel doesn't so much ask questions in these stories as point to the deeply aggravating answers other people give. I wasn't inspired. ( )

"Cloudland," the final and longest story, is the one you buy the book for. It articulates the full expression of Hempel's project in this collection. It is written in a voice that is free from the inconvenient bother of interpersonal attachments and clouded by the intrusion of rote facts picked up from the refuse of information age existence. I'm currently reading Ducks, Newburyport, which does all of that but more convincingly and with heart and I think that's what I didn't like about these stories. They are clearly the work of a craftsman. The prose is precise and organized. The stories show off incredible skill in concision and pacing. By the time I finished the last page, however, I found myself a little fed up. The narrative voice feels numb, the kind of numb you get when emotions are too intense to express, yet here that numbness never resolves in dynamic ways. Everything is valued in the same gray tones.

I understand this is likely Hempel's point - she is clearly in command of her work - but the effect is hopeless and bitter. Hempel doesn't so much ask questions in these stories as point to the deeply aggravating answers other people give. I wasn't inspired. ( )

A good collection throughout in the way that Hempel is always so good, though not quite as strong as her earlier stuff that packed such a wallop. But I love her close, economical attention to language. In other authors that can feel like it's in the service of the writer (hi Lorrie Moore, whom I do like), but Hempel's craft always feels like it's for her readers. There's this milk of human kindness that just flows through her work that always wins me over. ( )

The stories in this collection (all but two previously published in various publications) all focus on people who are sad and suffering loss. Someone missing their late dog, a volunteer at an animal shelter, a woman who have her infant daughter for adoption decades earlier.

My favorite was Cloudland, and it is also the longest. Most of the others felt too spare to explore the sadness of the narrators. I could feel Cloudland in my gut. ( )

Very, very, very short stories. I was touched by the selection A Full-Service Shelter. Lots of emotions are captured in this collection of stories. ( )

The fiction stories in SING TO IT by Amy Hempel are grounding and nourishing. She tethers us to the hard earth, and feeds us awareness. Her compassion is in the grounding. She understands suffering, and sheds a harsh light upon it. The dilemma of helping humanity is up to everyone. Hempel demonstrates with precise observations that it is never too late to love your fellow man.

-Breton Kaiser Taylor ( )

FYI Review - this collection of short stories contains the following:
-Sing to It
-The Orphan Lamb
-A Full-Service Shelter
-The Doll Tornado
-I Stay with Syd
-The Chicane
-Greed
-Fort Bedd
-Four Calls in the Last Half Hour
-The Correct Grip
-The Second Seating
-Moonbow
-Equivalent
-The Quiet Car
-Cloudland