Amazon Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules

Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules

Home. You are here: Books / Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules 

Editorial Review:

From the #1 bestselling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim comes a collection of the short stories David Sedaris loves most. Containing the work of both contemporary and classic writers, CHILDREN PLAYING BEFORE A STATUE OF HERCULES, edited and introduced by Sedaris, gives his legions of fans a glimpse at the writing he finds inspiring - and helps them discover the truth abut loneliness, hope, love, betrayal, and certain, but not all, monkeys.

David Sedaris fell in love with short stories while living in Odell, Oregon. Sedaris writes, "When apple-picking season ended, I got a job in a packing plant and gravitated toward short stories, which I could read during my break and reflect upon for the remainder of my shift. A good one would take me out of myself and stuff me back in, outsized, now, and uneasy with the fit." Featuring such notable writers as Alice Munro, Tobias Wolff, Lorrie Moore, and Joyce Carol Oates, readers will reconnect with classics, as well discover fantastic but lesser-known writers.

Included in CHILDREN PLAYING BEFORE A STATUE OF HERCULES are:

Introduction by David Sedaris

"Oh, Joseph, I'm So Tired" by Richard Yates

"Gryphon" by Charles Baxter

"Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri

"The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield

"Half A Grapefruit" by Alice Munro

"Applause, Applause" by Jean Thompson

"I Know What I'm Doing About All the Attention I've Been Getting" by Frank Gannon

"Where the Door Is Always Open and the Welcome Mat Is Out" by Patricia Highsmith

"The Best of Betty" by Jincy Willett

"Song of the Shirt, 1941" by Dorothy Parker

"The Girl with the Blackened Eye" by Joyce Carol Oates

"People Like That Are the Only People Here: Canonical Babbling in Peed Onk" by Lorrie Moore

"Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor

"In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried" by Amy Hempel

"Cosmopolitan" by Akhil Sharma

"Irish Girl" by Tim Johnston

"Bullet in the Brain" by Tobias Wolff

Epilogue by Sarah Vowell

Borrowing the book's name from an Adriaen van der Werff painting, CHILDREN PLAYING BEFORE A STATUE OF HERCULES is David Sedaris's attempt to share his passion for short stories with a wider audience-and his enthusiasm is contagious. "The authors in this book are huge to me, and I am a comparative midget, scratching around in their collective shadow. 'Pint sized Fanatic Bowing Before Statues of Hercules' might have been more concise, but people don't paint things like that, and besides, it doesn't sound as good."

David Sedaris is publishing this book to support 826NYC, a nonprofit tutoring center in Brooklyn, New York. All of his proceeds, after permission expenses, from CHILDREN PLAYING BEFORE A STATUE OF HERCULES will benefit this organization designed to help students ages six to eighteen develop their writing skills through free writing workshops, publishing projects, and one-on-one help with homework and English-language learning. In the book's epilogue, Sarah Vowell describes the fine work done by 826NYC.

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

• Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules
  I am a big fan of David Sedaris. Unfortunately this book, despite having his name on it, was not written by him. It is an anthology of works by other writers. If you are looking for a book by David Sedaris do NOT buy this book. I think Amazon could have done a much better job of making it clear that he did not write this book. I am very disappointed.

• An Incredibly Pleasant Surprise
  Like some others that reviewed the book, I hastily ordered it and failed to realize that the collection was simply edited and introduced by Mr. Sedaris, not written by him. But I decided to read the book despite my mistake, and I was rewarded instantly. From the first story by Richard Yates to the last by Tobias Wolff, I was entranced; I had to limit myself to a story or two a day so that I could savor the collection longer. Of all the books I have ordered on Amazon, this is the first I have felt compelled... more info

• My wife loved it
  She reads Sedaris a lot and this one was chewed down in a little over a week.

• Thank You
  When I buy a new cookbook, if I find three or four killer recipes, I count my purchase a success. The same might be said for short story compilations. I thank Mr. Sedaris for introducing me to Richard Yates, Charles Baxter and Jhumpa Lahiri. Mr. Yates' story is one of the finest works of short fiction I have ever read, up there with Delmore Schwartz's "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities." The final lines of Jean Thompson's story are absolutely beautiful -- I can't get them out of my head.

Similar Products: