In these slice-of-life stories, a varied cast of characters in modern-day Southern California seeks the fulfillment of a better life that the Golden State has always promised. Some of the characters move to the state for a change of mindset that comes with sunshine, or for health reasons that the dry, mild West Coast weather provides. Many stories are only a few pages. Yet the author's concise narrations make these brief yet telling stories feel longer.
I have learned that Feyder received an MA in creative writing and literature. In addition to writing, she is a practicing psychotherapist, which explains why her characters all seem to be on an inner journey throughout each short. I like some better than others, but overall I enjoyed reading the collection.

I am not usually one to pick up a book of short stories, but this was beautiful and intimate. The descriptions were wildly impressive without being superfluous. I would recommend this book to friends.

A delight. Here you can ruminate on California life in all its glories and tribulations. You can miss a love, resent a past and fill a void all within the pages here. The writer speaks to fear and live and sorrow with a depth of feeling .

I have wanted to live in California my entire life, and though I haven't made it out to the West Coast just yet, Linda Feyder's All's Fair and Other California Stories made me feel like I was there, even for a brief period of time. I loved Feyder's writing and the way she approached storytelling in each of these compelling tales. You felt like you were in California, walking through the world with these vibrant characters. I appreciated the distinctive voice contained in each of these stories, and it was an easy book to read in snippets throughout the day when I could steal time away from work.

The imagery really transports the reader to California, and it was the perfect bout of escapism during a time where I found myself dreaming of California now more than ever.

Unlike so many readers, I adore short story collections. This particular collection is made up of quick dives into a variety of disparate stories, the lives of people finding their way in California. California is an ever-present, sometimes welcome, sometimes ominous backdrop.

I do wish the stories had been a bit longer and had more of a narrative thread running throughout. The stories feel too short and abrupt, and thematically underdeveloped. If you are a reader who enjoys short stories on the short side, this may work for you, especially if you’re looking for a strong sense of place.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from the publisher in order to review it

I do not tend to read short story collections because I always want more of the story but I enjoyed this series of short stories based around various characters located in Southern California. I may be biased since I live in California but this felt like little glimpses into very ordinary people's lives which I loved. These also were not the usual characters that are generally featured in family dramas or other fiction stories but felt like they could actually be real people struggling through real things and we could never really know if they were our protagonist or antagonist. The stories in these pages drew me in so quickly and even though they are short, I could easily immerse myself into the different worlds through the excellent writing and was often left wanting to know what happens next.

This collection of short stories is insightful, captivating and provide a 'slice of life' at the exact moment in time. Linda Feyder is a dynamic writer, showing range from the mundane to exploring episodes of violence. While I enjoyed each story, I often found myself longing for more - as if these short stories were almost TOO short. I could have used more story development, more plot, more character building, just more - it didn't feel like I sat with each story long enough and often felt like I didn't circle around on a resolution or be left to dream about what would come next for a specific plot.

If you truly love short stories - this is a great addition to your to be read pile, however, if you are looking for something more fully formed - maybe pass on this one.

What is interesting book It talked about different cultures and what they had to give up or lose. He's all based on California and put a lower end of California.. They talk about loss and gain how people are really Struggling to hold it together. I like the short stories because they're easy re and some are really good

Genre: Literary Short Stories
Publisher: She Writes Press
Pub Date: Sep. 28, 2021

Mini-Review
After finishing this short story collection, I was not surprised to learn that it is a finalist for the 2021American Short Story Award. However, I almost did not accept this book because I did not recognize the publisher, She Writes Press. I assumed the book was self-published or a vanity press. I discovered that it is neither. Rather a hybrid model, for women writers, published these shorts. The most notable difference from self-publishing is that this model has traditional distribution and manuscript vetting. After reading a few pages of the first short, I knew off the bat that I was reading a literary, well-written and, interesting collection.

In these slice-of-life stories, a varied cast of characters in modern-day Southern California seeks the fulfillment of a better life that the Golden State has always promised. Some of the characters move to the state for a change of mindset that comes with sunshine, or for health reasons that the dry, mild West Coast weather provides. Many stories are only a few pages. Yet the author’s concise narrations make these brief yet telling stories feel longer. I have learned that Feyder received an MA in creative writing and literature. In addition to writing, she is a practicing psychotherapist, which explains why her characters all seem to be on an inner journey throughout each short. I like some better than others, but overall I am impressed with the collection.

I rarely read short stories, but when I do I often enjoy the ability to read one, and read something else, and then pick them up again. This book is a good collection of stories focusing on California. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ebook copy in exchange for my review. I’m not naturally drawn to short stories, as a rule, but I have a fascination for California and thought the book sounded interesting. While the characters and settings were wonderfully described, the stories were so short that I found myself disappointed, wanting to know what happened afterward. That’s a problem I find with many short story compilations - I’m always left feeling like the plot is unresolved. If you’re a fan of the short story format, this would be a good selection.

All's Fair and Other California Stories is a collection of short stories by Linda Feyder. I was interested in this book because I recently moved from California and work in healthcare so thought it would be interesting to read a book by a psychotherapist.

Overall the short stories were easy to read. I loved some of the imagery that was set for Southern California and thought the author did a great job with this. My biggest complaint is that for most of the short stories I really wasn't sure what the point was supposed to be. There were a few stories that stood out to me, especially the ones that dive into family dynamics but overall I guess I expected there to be more cohesiveness of the stories as well as a stronger portrayal of the themes. But maybe that is a reflection of this genre? Perhaps you are supposed to come to your own conclusions and interpretations.

This may be a fun book for you if you are into California and introspective contemporary fiction with a diverse cast of characters in short stories!

e-ARC given by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All's Fair and Other California Stories publishes on September 28th.

Note: Thank you Netgalley for the review copy of All's Fair and Other California Stories. In exchange, here is my honest review. All's Fair and Other California Stories comes out 28/09/2021.

Short stories are difficult to write because in the span of a few pages, the author must elucidate the life of the characters and the milieu of the time and place they inhabit. Feyder has captured the culture of California to perfection - it is diverse, hopeful, dreamy, and harsh all at once. However, I found that the characters were difficult to connect with: as the stories themselves are extremely short, it was hard to get to know the characters in any depth.

Jo's Recommendation
If you're a fan of introspective contemporary fiction, this may be a book for you. These slice-of-life stories are deeply reflective and diverse.

Review can also be found on Goodreads and Storygraph.

California is an amazingly diverse area (geographically, ethnically, etc), so it serves as a rich source of material. As a short story fan, I enjoyed this overall. The author's talent shows thru here, and I hope she continues to write.

Thanks very much for the free review copy!!

https://bonnevivantetr.wordpress.com/2021/08/06/book-review-alls-fair-and-other-california-stories-by-linda-feyder/

This 160 paged book consists of 13 short stories that take place in different parts of California.
The characters’ psychological aspects were depicted accurately and realistically but I’m sad to say that I couldn’t bring myself to like this book. I couldn’t relate to the characters but this could be due to the fact that I’m not from California? I don’t know. In addition to that, the stories didn’t give me any reason to continue reading the book: it wasn’t fluent nor exciting..
Still, I don’t want to be too harsh and I think even if they lacked some elements, the stories weren’t poorly written and there were some that I liked. “Marta del Angel” was my favourite one. I also liked the fact that many people of different ages, races, social and ethnic groups were represented beautifully and this is always good to see in literature. And if you’re usually into short stories published in literary magazines, this book might be just for you.
“All’s Fair and Other California Stories” by Linda Feyder will appear from She Writes Press later this September.