Side – DaneCobain.com

Title: Motherhood

Author: Helen Simpson

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 124

Rating: 4/5

A weird thing happened here where when I started reading this, I thought it was non-fiction and I didn’t think much of it. Then I realised it was short stories and started to really enjoy it. I’m not sure what that tells you about me.

What I liked here was that it showed children as they really are – as intelligent, autonomous beings of their own. The tales of Motherhood that Simpson shares feel more honest because of that, and also because it shows a darker side to motherhood including its impact on your friendships and your sex life. All in all, it’s an insightful read.

Click here to buy Motherhood.

Charles Bukowski – The Most Beautiful Woman in Town | Review

April 25, 2018 danecobain

Authors A-E (By Surname)Fiction

Title: The Most Beautiful Woman in Town

Author: Charles Bukowski

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 234

Rating: 4*/5

Charles Bukowski – The Most Beautiful Woman in Town

A lot of the stories in this collection were already familiar to me through Bukowski’s other collections, because this is pretty much a collection of different stories from different places that are all pulled into one under the general theme of the women that he met throughout his life. And of course, because it’s Bukowski, it’s offensive as shit if you don’t want to read about alcoholism, bigotry, all sorts of weird sex stuff and just the darker side of humanity as a whole.

Still, it’s a pretty good introduction to his work, and it was enjoyable enough to read. It didn’t stand out though, either for being bad or for being good. And honestly, if you’re going to check out his prose rather than his poetry then you’re probably better off going for one of his novels instead of for one of his short story collections. There are also some recent releases that bring together his work on subjects like love, cats and writing, which also work pretty well as a introduction.

I’m glad I read this and I did enjoy it, but I’m thirty odd books in now and pretty much just finishing off the final few Bukowski books that I haven’t read. S0 yeah.