I loved A Constellation of Vital Phenomena so much I just had to read this short story.
What a gem!!
The writing is beautiful and effortlessly evokes an emotional response but there is also a touch of humour such that I laugh as well as cry.

The heart of the story is relationship between father and son. The son is plagued by guilt over his ‘betrayal’ of his father, by writing a ‘tell-all’ memoir, but is also carrying resentment that his father turned whistleblower, because a moral hero, without taking into consideration the deleterious affects it would have on the family.

The deceptively simple way in which the author creates realistic but loving relationships leaves my heart bursting with affection and concern for the characters portrayed.

Although I finished the story hungering for more of the writing the end was perfect and left me with a tearful smile.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories, and Anthony Marra for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review of The Lion’s Den. My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

Another poignant story, this time of a son, his father and their complicated relationship. But then again, who doesn’t have a complicated relationship with their father. In this story, the father was sent to prison for releasing sensitive government information. He eventually was given a presidential pardon. He never said why he did it but there was a lot of backlash that affected the whole family. When the son was twenty-two, he wrote a tell-all on his dad and not a very nice one. What happens when a parent hits old age and there are issues that haven’t been talked about and need to be resolved. If the relationship is strained it is even harder to broach those difficult subjects.

This is the fourth out of five stories from the Inheritance Collection that I have read. Each one has been poignant, heartfelt, brings up relatable, difficult subjects. But don’t look for any resolutions to these situations. The stories are short and deposit just enough to hook you and leave you thinking. I’ve enjoyed every one.

It's amazing how much depth a great writer can get into 28 pages of a short story. This is an excellent example by Anthony Marra, portraying a dying father and his adult son who has recently moved back home for financial reasons.

As a younger man, the son wrote a damming memoir about his father, a government whistleblower who took a moral stand in releasing details of illegal NSA surveillance. Jailed for some years, his son suffered trauma and bullying at school and later lashed out with the vicious memoir. Later lauded as a hero by many, his father was granted a pardon by President Obama and now that his son is older he has a more understanding view of what his father did. Told with a touch of humour, the story raises many questions about ethical dilemmas to ponder long after the ending. The imagery of the son taking his father to visit caged animals at the nearby zoo every afternoon and the final scene were just perfect.

This is the fifth short story in the Amazon Inheritance collection I have read and enjoyed and I hope this excellent series will be extended with similar high quality short stories from talented writers.

What an exceptional short story!

Anthony Marra has written a wonderful piece about a father and son relationship that is quite complicated. At 34 years old, Michael returns home to care for his dying father that he has not long ago betrayed. His father is a whistleblower whom some consider a hero and others do not. A brilliant and perfect ending.

In 2014 Marra won the Leonard’s prize awarded by the National Book Critics Circle for A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. His first novel and one of the finest books I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Thanks to Goodreads’ friends Paromjit, Elyse, Cheri, and Rose for your lovely reviews which prompted me to request this short story from NetGalley.

Thanks also to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for providing an ARC of The Lion’s Den in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date - December 19, 2019

Posted to NetGalley on December 9, 2019

A bland baked potato . . .

Eek. I expected a hot potato! But what I got was a plain potato, warmed up in the microwave. Almost everyone else delighted in their steaming-hot russet, fresh out of the oven, with heaps of sour cream and chives. I’m kicking myself that I forgot my rule to lower my expectations. I always get caught up in the hype and then expect to go gaga over a story like everyone else. It was just a meh for me. Dang, I so wanted to be in gush-land with the gang.

It wasn’t a total bust; I liked this short story okay. The beginning was good and the very end was just brilliant. I enjoyed the heart of the story: A son, who has a complex relationship with his father, returns home, where his father is dying. The father is fascinating—some people thought that he was a crook, others thought he was a hero. What a life he lived.

But where the story failed me was at the symposium, where the son was a speaker. I thought all the chatter at the symposium was boring, too intellectual, and overall yawn-worthy. It took me out of the story. I liked some of the ideas, but for me they detracted from the story. I was too aware of the author’s viewpoints on issues; it seemed like he was trying too hard to be relevant and profound. I really wish he had stuck with the infinitely more interesting story of father and son. I wanted them to talk to each other more; I wanted more drama. I always take interaction over issues, always.

I didn’t think the story was tight. Entirely too much time was spent at the symposium (diluting the story), but there was another minor problem for me. Of the son’s three friends mentioned at the beginning, only two had bit parts later in the story. Space is precious in a short story; there’s no room for a character who doesn’t stay in the picture.

The writing is super smart and thoughtful, and it impressed me. But that wasn’t enough. Most sentences by themselves made me happy, but they didn’t work together to create fireworks.

The last bit of the story is so perfect, I wondered if the writer came up with that first and then worked backward to create the story. He gets 10 stars for the ending.

I read Marra’s Tsar of Love and Techno and liked it, but I remember having a similar gripe—a little too intellectual and disjointed.

Just a bland baked potato, devoid of luscious toppings. What else can I say, other than I’m glad it was a short story, not a novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Anthony Marra is my best-loved author and if you have not read The Tsar of Love and Techno and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena you are missing out on some of the most beautiful and intelligent writing in existence.

So although I am not a fan of short stories or novellas, I had to apply for The Lion's Den from Netgalley as soon as I saw it. As always the author's writing is exquisite, and although the setting is very different from his other books, it still focuses on moral ambiguity. You have to take your hat of to someone who can fill such a short book with humour, sadness and relevance.

I just wanted more - hence the 4 stars. I can't wait for his next full length title.

This very short novella from one of my absolutely favorite writers is a welcome addition to the growing list of anti-Trump administration works that have surfaced lately. There have been many takes on the atrocity that currently inhabits 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but Anthony Marra has found a way to approach it in his thoughtful, measured way, unhysterical and potent. He says much in very few words.

Michael, the 34-year-old son of his dying father, reflects on his father's actions as a whistleblower and his (Michael's) response to those actions as an angry young 22-year-old. Michael sums it up as follows:

"A parent's mortality makes one conscious of wasted time . . . As I sped to the hospital, my mind filled with everything that wasn't said. . . I wanted to tell him that I hadn't meant what I'd written about him . . . and even so, within the heartbreak and anger, [that] I looked at him in awe."

The story includes a humorous, tongue-in-cheek account on the topic of ethics (or its opposite, unethical behaviors) from the POV of one of Michael's contemporaries and from the POV of sixth-grade boys. But "The Lion's Den" also deals with Michael's regrets regarding how he perceived his father after his father's arrest twelve years ago and the deference Michael feels for him now. The theme of this short story series is Inheritance and Michael receives an amazing inheritance from his dying father.

Anthony Marra has taken the short story format to create a truly heartfelt and reflective tale.

Engrossing story about a father and a son and the complications that lie between them. Despite betrayals and anger, there is always a connection. Finding your way back to each other through understanding and forgiveness is the underlying theme. I have loved everything Anthony Marra has written and this is no exception. The ending was beyond brilliant!!

Oh boy. I hate being an outlier. But this short story and I were not meant to be. I couldn't connect with the characters. I couldn't connect with the narrative. The last page, however, earns it an extra star as I did like the ending. Don't listen to me though, as at this point virtually everyone else has rated it 5 stars. I will slither back under my rock now...

Thank you Net Galley, Amazon Original Stories, and Anthony Marra for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this short story. Opinions are obviously mine alone and are not biased in any way.

The Lion's Den is my first short story I read in Amazon Original Stories Inheritance collections of five stories.

Anthony Marra really takes us in the lion's den with this short story that explores a complicated father/son relationship. At only 28 pages long, there is a lot not said and said here that will have you thinking deeply about this story and the danger when secrets are left unsaid or when they are revealed.

As I was reading this one I couldn't help wondering how a short story like this could come together and the ending not leave me wondering what I missed. Well, it all comes together brilliantly and I loved the end. I was surprised by the ending and left with all those questions I love to explore with my thoughts. I wish I could say more about how that ending made me feel but I just can't without spoilers. For me, the best books are not only the one that opens up so many thoughts in my head but also the ones that have me thinking just how brilliantly the story comes together in the end.

I am a very big fan of this author's work so far, so it was not a difficult decision to read his recently published short story.

Marra writes so beautifully - every word is important and every paragraph needs to be read carefully and savoured fully. The Lion's Den is just twenty eight pages long but these pages are packed full of meaning.

I enjoyed the tale, I laughed at the incidents with the students and I read out loud some of the comical asides about his religious experiences to anyone who would listen. Some books you feel obliged to share and this was one. Hoping now for another full length novel in the very near future.

Another fantastic short story from the Amazon Original Short Stories Inheritance Collection! This is the third
one I've read and it is very good! I must purchase this book of short stories to have them all together.

Thank you so much to all the writers, the Publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and
review this short story!

At the age of thirty-four, Michael is more or less forced to move back home to live with and care for his father, a somewhat tarnished whistleblower, a man he has long resented for the upheaval that followed his publicly revealing a government program.

Michael’s only real “success” comes from writing the tell-all book about his father, and since then his life seems to have flatlined. Now home caring for the father he betrayed, the time has come to decide how to spend these final days together, rehashing the resentments of the past, or finding peace and perhaps forgiveness.

This was the second book in the Inheritance Collection that I’ve read, the first being Alice Hoffman’s Everything My Mother Taught Me, both stories having themes of betrayal, forgiveness and love.


Pub Date: 19 Dec 2019


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley

"The day before my father died, he asked to see the lions."

The Lion's Den is a short story by Anthony Marra that is a part of the Inheritance series and it moved me to tears. It was a 3 to 3.5 stars read for me until the last page. It so rarely happens that a seemingly average story becomes a masterpiece because of the ending; an end that you realize, will stay with you for a very long time.

Michael's father served a prison sentence during the Bush administration for some controversial deeds that led him to be hailed a hero by some, and a traitor by others. His life was fascinating—he was personally pardoned by President Obama and was released from federal prison after six years. He has now been diagnosed with cancer and every single day, he visits the zoo. There, he stands in front of the lion's den and thinks of ways that an animal could break free and escape into the outside world.

I find myself at a loss for words to express my feelings at this point. So I'm just going to say that I could never imagine that such a heartfelt story could be written in twenty-eight pages. But Marra has done exactly that. And for that, I'm in awe. Definitely going to look into more of his works.

[I'd like to thank NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories and Anthony Marra for this ARC.]

This short story was my first taste of Anthony Marra's writing.

The Lion's Den is excellent, even reluctant short stories readers will find it satisfying, as it had enough detail, self-exploration and depth. I thought the ending was outstanding.

What a wonderful engaging book written with so few words. I thoroughly enjoyed The Lion’s Den by Anthony Marra.

This book was from a series of 5 small books by various authors.

I will read more of this authors books

Thank you Amazon and NetGalley for providing me an early release in exchange for an honest review.

After reading all the Inheritance stories, I can say it is an interesting and varied collection and I love this initiative to collect short stories by a wide range authors. The Lion's Den, by Anthony Marra, seemed to capture our times the best and had a poetic ending that has me wanting more for the author. His book, The Tsar of Love and Techno has been on my radar for a while because of its intriguing title, now I know I have to check it out.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Anthony Marra’s novel [book:A Constellation of Vital Phenomena|15797715] and [book:The Tsar of Love and Techno|23995336], a collection of connected stories which for me read like a novel. I count them among my favorites, so I was thrilled at the opportunity to read his new short story which is part of the Amazon Original Inheritance Collection. It’s filled with humor and emotion and regret, and is so relevant, not just because it’s about the son of a whistleblower, but because there are questions about the morality of the things people do or don’t do. I thought about what we are seeing on the news today, the lack of scruples of so many of our public servants and the honor of those who speak up for what is right. I don’t want to digress so I’m not going to get political here because the heart of this story for me, is the complicated relationship between this man and his father, a previous NSA employee, about whom his son wrote a tell all book. Fantastic writing, not a wasted word. There are so many funny lines, but the humor is tempered by the seriousness of the events and the depth of love that the story emanates. It’s too short to tell about the plot , but I’ll just say the same thing I said about “Everything My Mother Taught Me” by Alice Hoffman, another story in the Amazon Inheritance collection. I was fortunate to obtain an advanced copy of this from Amazon Original through NetGalley. It’s part of the Amazon Original Inheritance Collection. If you are a NetGalley member, I recommend you go and request it. If not, preorder it from Amazon for your kindle . It’s being released 12/19/19 . It’s worth so much more than the $1.99 that it will cost you.


It has taken me ages to connect with shorter fiction because I frequently felt unsatisfied at the end wanting to know more. While I wanted more of the fabulous writing, I wasn’t left with that hanging feeling. Amazing what a talented writer can do in 28 pages !

“Lion’s Den” by Anthony Marra was simply brilliant. It dealt with a complex father-son relationship and touches on morality, corruption, irony, abandonment, and so much more. Marra is a gifted writer who manages to convey a plethora of information and emotion into these short 28 pages.