I first became acquainted with Emma Cline’s work in her excellent debut novel, The Girls. This collection of short stories gave me the same off-kilter feeling of being dropped inside someone else’s head. These quiet glimpses into troubled souls are at times heart wrenching and at other times poignant. In What Can You Do With a General, Northeast Regional, and Son of Friedman, we meet parents and children who barely know each other. Mack The Knife and Menlo Park show us the world through the lens of disillusionment and hindsight. Although each of the ten stories contain different characters and situations, the common thread is how alienated the characters are from the people that supposedly love them. If you are a fan of deftly drawn vignettes and don’t require stories to be neatly tied up with a bow, you would enjoy this moving collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for a review copy of this book.

While I greatly enjoyed THE GIRLS, Cline's debut novel, DADDY didn't connect with me as much as I had hoped it would. While there were a couple of stories here that I enjoyed (I especially liked "Los Angeles", "The Nanny", and "Northeast Regional"), the slice of life dysfunction ever present in all of them made it very hard to like and relate to any of the characters. A few of the stories also ended very abruptly, as if there was more to be said and yet these unspoken pieces weren't necessary to comment upon. While I think that this worked with a few of the stories (notably the ones that I mentioned above), sometimes it left me wanting more, and not in a positive way. There is no denying, however, that Cline has a very distinct and beautiful lyrical style, as so many of the images and narrations that she constructed really stood out and struck me as I was reading. Her talents in that regard make me hesitant to write off the stories as a whole, because the style truly stands out. I definitely want to see what Cline comes up with next. But within a genre or narrative device that I like more than I do short stories.

DADDY is strangely beautiful in some ways, and frustrating in others. But Cline is still a unique voice in literary fiction today. I had just hoped for more.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

Emma Cline is a gifted writer whose debut novel, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴, delved so perfectly into the psyche of a teenage girl that it was a fast burn. This was a different reading experience that feels more like quiet observations. 𝘋𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺 is a collection of stories that reveal the thoughts of people navigating their everyday lives, whether they’re in the stages of becoming or trapped in ruts. People with bad luck, those who have a hard to conjuring a good feeling about their own families, flirt with the edge of danger for a spot of money, charmed flatterers whose lives are fizzling out, a son whose movie project fails to measure up to his father’s brilliance and a nanny to a celebrity couple that offers more than child care- just to name a few.

People are growing out of each other’s reach in both 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 and 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢. John, father and husband, frets over his wife’s beloved dog whose failing health coincides with Christmas as his adult children are home for a visit in the first story. Children all in one place, making his wife Linda’s heart happy but anger and irritate John with their distracted presence. Time and age seems to castrate a man.. anger unwelcome. In 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢, boyfriend Peter intrudes on the bond between siblings Heddy and Otto. As Otto believes there is room for expansion for the orchard, Heddy expands her mind with schooling, what about Peter?

𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘯 tells the story of two friends who while away time on thirteen year old Marion’s family ranch; a bohemian sort of place where children have a little too much adult freedom. When the girls aren’t hunting for cigarettes they are scheming to get attention from a grown man. Playing at things they don’t understand in a quest to keep ‘men on their toes’.

𝘈/𝘚/𝘓 is all mountains and desert heat as a young woman tries to ‘assess her feelings’ and ‘locate the discomfort’ while in rehab, but what landed her there? How do you assess feelings and take control when you don’t know what your feelings are? When playing with the seedy side of life is much more entertaining?

𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦 is about getting everything that you wanted and becoming disenchanted, a misery even anti-depressants won’t fix. Feeling like you’re never quite the grown up.

The stories were hit or miss for me, some ended too soon others didn’t draw me in but there were a few I enjoyed. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘯 made me think of loyal dog friendships, someone always seems to be the leader and it’s always the follower who pays for the daring antics. Too, it’s evident how sexually confusing youth is when the adults fail to pay attention and supervise. I imagine younger readers won’t enjoy 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 , maybe because they can’t forecast that far ahead and imagine the comparisons between the way things used to be and how it all turned out, sad that there seems to be very little intimate connection to his children, so tuned into their own existences now. I think after you have children who are adults these sort of stories resonate more. It likely has something to do with going through the ringer, something none of us escapes as we age. It was a decent collection, Cline is a wonderful writer but it was not as absorbing for me as her novel, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴.

Publication Date: September 1, 2020

Random House

This collection of stories is full of razor-sharp writing and smart observations. It’s sometimes hard to review story collections but this one actually felt cohesive in its depictions of toxic masculinity and things left unsaid. We drop in on these variously medicated protagonists doggedly living through the small calamities of their lives. The overall effect is entertaining in the moment but fleeting in the aftermath – these stories didn’t stick with me the way I expected them to, they ultimately lacked some kind of depth. I continue to be excited about Cline regardless and look forward to what she does next.

This book was filled with short stories that I had a hard time getting into. I was disappointed that I had a hard time keeping interest. I just felt like this wasn't for me.

Thank you Netgalley for an early release for an honest review.

Emma Cline, author of The Girls, returns with 10 elegantly written, unsettling stories. Although her fiction remains bleak and her characters often unlikable--several feature icy, detached fathers--Cline writes about troubled relationships and the pressures on girls and women with the precision and psychological acuity of a 21st century Edith Wharton: “[Acting] was one of the traditional possibilities for a pretty girl, everyone urging the pretty girl not to waste her prettiness, to put it to good use. As if prettiness was a natural resource, a responsibility you had to see all the way through." These stories will appeal to admirers of exquisite sentences and psychological fiction à la Mary Gaitskill. Readalike: Because They Wanted To by Mary Gaitskill.

Each story drops us into a moment of a person's life, not necessarily the event that shapes them forever but enough that we get a sense of who they are. If you are looking for intricately plotted out stories you won't find them here. Instead, these are very moody character-driven vignettes. Poor communication between people leads to the simmer conflicts that we often don't get a resolution for. I personally love this type of ambiguity in my short stories and I really enjoyed what Cline was doing. There's a sadness and sense of personal disappointment in the characters that thematically links each story,

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would. Some of the stories just made me feel like I was left hanging when they ended and others had me contemplating what what I was supposed to take away from them (but not in a good way, more like I was trying to justify the time I'd spent reading them). I like Emma Cline's writing style, though, and will still read her future work.

Emma Cline’s debut novel, The Girls, was the talk of my friend circle for a couple of months. It seems like everyone I knew, regardless of their typical reading habits, had at least taken a chance with the story. Her writing style that I loved from the novel is consistent in this new book, a collection of ten short stories. I typically don’t read a lot of short stories- I tend to be left wanting more- more plot, more about the characters, more resolution. Many of these short stories did the same- I wanted to know more! Others seemed to be the perfect amount of time spent peeking into the characters’ lives.

Scattered throughout all the stories were bits of nostalgia, themes of living in the shadow of one’s glory days, throwbacks to simpler times. The slices of everyday life weren’t necessarily super dark or depressing, more like they had a hint of melancholy. I think the September 1st release date is the perfect choice- this will be a great read cozied up with a warm drink and hints of fall around. If you like to escape a bit into yourself like I do, you’ll enjoy this.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing and the author for my copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Emma Cline's The Girls more, it seems, than most people. I was surprised to find out that her much-anticipated follow-up would not be another novel, but having read some of her previous short stories in The New Yorker and The Paris Review, I knew I could expect good things from a full-length collection.

True to form, Cline's writing in Daddy is an absolute dream. Quixotic and ethereal, each of these stories feels as if it's been treated with a dusky orange filter. Cline is certainly a master of atmosphere. Each of these stories has a theme that feels distant. There is no urgency, even when situations warrant it. Often when reading short story collections, I find at least one or two just don't quite work for me. This was not the case in Daddy. I connected with each story instantly, and was compelled by these pictures of characters on the edge. Unfortunately, this was also very difficult to read in 2020, when it feels very much as if the whole world is in a position that is nothing if not precarious.

Stand out stories: a/s/l, Menlo Park, Arcadia

I am having troubles writing this review. I really enjoyed Cline’s debut novel and thought I would adore this – I thought her writing style (vague, filled with weird metaphors) that worked well for me in novel form would work even better in the short format; this, however, was really not the case. I found this disappointingly and surprisingly bad. The prose was clumsy, filled to the absolute brim with unecessary commas, and the stories felt unfocussed, as if the interesting stuff was happening just off page.

The stories, as the title alludes to, often feature father figures – and most of those were horrible. This could have worked for me as I often enjoy difficult characters in fiction but here I did not find them drawn vividly enough (or too vividly, having them remain vague might have worked better for me). The stories are, without exception very grim in a way that felt hopeless to me.

I did not get on with this at all.

The book Daddy (Emma Cline) is a collection of short stories. I do a lot of early reading and giving reviews. Because of this I am occasionally "invited" to read a book, as I was with Daddy. I just couldn't "connect" with any of these stories. To me, none of them had much of a plot. I would give it 2 and 1/2 stars, so I will up it to 3. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House for my early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love Emma Cline's voice, it's very fresh and necessary in the literary world. I was very excited to see what her short story collection would entail and I was not disappointed. Cline's ability to take me back to being a young woman in her late teens, early 20's is pretty amazing. She writes women as raw, complicated, unfiltered, fallible and real. This is what is missing from much of the modern landscapes literary fiction and I'm here for everything that Cline will write.

One of the reasons to read a collection of short stories is to see how an author flexes their skills and abilities. Emma Cline's THE GIRLS introduced us to her skillful ability to pull the reader into the story and make the characters and their actions "real". So, was that a fluke? No. Ten stories with a central theme to explore give us a broad look at life lived with less than happily ever after results. Ms Cline's stories have the depth of feelings sometimes left best unexplored but always human in their moment. These stories are not for everyone. While short, they will cause you to think. Read each individually and you'll enjoy them as a glimpse into a world most of us never see.

Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC! This book will be published on Tuesday September 1 2020.

After reading and loving The Girls a few years ago, I was excited to read something new from Emma Cline. Unfortunately, Daddy: Stories missed the mark for me. Several of the stories intrigued me at first, including “What Can You Do with a General” and “Northeast Regional,” but ultimately the only one I actually enjoyed was “Marion.” For me, “Marion” captured everything that I loved about The Girls: superb writing and characterization, grittiness, and the trials of female adolescence.

The entire collection does display a number of Cline’s strengths. She’s an excellent writer and she does a great job developing her characters in each story. The stories mostly deal with rather unlikable characters, which is fine by me but won’t be for everyone, and they all find themselves in difficult and uncomfortable situations. Everything about these stories felt real. The situations are things that happen all the time in real life. A boy commits an act of violence against a classmate. A father is abusive to his family and it makes for awkward holiday celebrations. A girl desperate for money ends up encountering someone dangerous. The characters are real people who you could easily come across out in the world. Cline does a marvelous job capturing this.

My biggest issue is that all of the stories dance around the main point without ever truly coming to it. “What Can You Do with a General” and “Northeast Regional” have tension building throughout, but nothing ever comes of it. Cline hides major details, which caused me to feel like I never knew quite what was going on. And ultimately, nothing seemed to happen in the stories. They never come to a point or resolution. We are just left in the middle of all the tension. I also felt that the majority of the stories were forgettable. The only one that truly stands out in my mind is “Marion.” Flipping through the table of contents, there are several that I don’t remember anything about.

Overall, this collection wasn’t for me, but that doesn’t mean others won’t enjoy it. These short stories showcase Cline’s wonderful writing and character development skills, and I think Marion is definitely a story worth checking out.

The collection of short stories in Daddy show a reflection of what the human experience is and can be. Each character's story seemed to be happening to them, as though they were adrift in the ocean with barely functional steering capabilities, and yet I found myself empathizing with their efforts to maintain a concept of self and direction. These are not tales that have a nice moral at the end, or a happy-ever-after; they're judgement-free glimpses into lives full of choices. I finished this book feeling simultaneously dissatisfied and enlarged.

Language: Moderate (multiples uses of the f word, occasional other profanities)
Drugs: High (recreational drug and alcohol use, youth smoking, addiction, prescription drug abuse)
Sex: High (nudity, teen pregnancy, extramarital affairs, pubescent sexual awareness)
Violence: Mild (implied domestic abuse, bullying)

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc.

I simply could not get into these short stories. Part of it is the genre- I am looking for more, more of a story, more character development, etc. Each and every one of the stories left me wondering- is that it?

Yes, there are glimpses into the human condition, but I wanted more than Cline gave.

While usually not a fan of short stories, I took a chance on this because I think the author is brilliant. I was not disappointed. Warning though, while involving the film industry in California, they're not a fairy tale type.

More realistic life, which let's face it, can be pretty depressing. Maybe read a little at a time.

Highly recommend.
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I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. I really enjoyed this one and I will be recommending it to family and friends

A short story collection from the author of 'The Girls'. None of the stories are intertwined, yet each has its own place. Most take place in the LA area, and many involve the deeds- and misdeeds- of film industry luminaries. There doesn't seem to be a satisfying conclusion to any of the stories, although they were interesting during the reading of them.