Games and Rituals by @katherineheiny is a highly entertaining, hilarious, honest, and brutal read. These stories range from hilarious to quite sad - centering on marriage, parenthood, mortality, infidelity, grief, and growing up and moving on. From accidentally eating a hearing aid that looked like cashew to getting drunk in your hometown's airport bar with people you’ve just met, you’ll surely find something to smile and laugh out loud about in this book! I hoped we would revisit some characters, but that sadly didn’t happen. However, it doesn’t change how I felt about the book, though, because I loved it either way! There are some pretty intense trigger warnings in this book, such as death, EDs, suicide, and abortion. These stories seemed similar to Heiny’s previous novel, Early Morning Riser, while also being completely different. Games and Rituals is set to be published on April 18, 2023! So please keep this on your radar! 🥰

Fucking FUNNY. The author's humor is subversive and hard to pinpoint, but at the same time straightforward, hitting you directly like cold winter air to face in the early morning.

Each story features a character that you've encountered in real life, but never really thought about — DMV driving examiner, ex-stoner, man having a half hearted affair — and explores their corner of life. Oftentimes more than not, it's a miserable existence they lead, due to something in the past holding them back: a betrayal they committed, a past self they've tried so hard to escape.

I loved the experience of reading this collection. If I had one thing to say it would be that some of the stories came across too strongly and left nothing for implication. But all around solid!

This is a stories collection about human bonds and unexpected connections. A group of test drivers, a couple and an ex-wife, a group of people in an airport, and a bridesmaid with the bride's father. All these relationships take on new meaning thanks to KH's insightful and intelligent prose. Humor and sadness make their appearance where one least expects it and they are both so effective.
All the stories, even the most random ones, are full of elements that allow the reader to quickly identify with either the narrator or one of his characters. The author knows human nature perfectly and that is clearly reflected in the way these characters relate with each other so organically.
I loved the narrative, the different settings, the conflicts, and the conversational writing style that adds intimacy to each story.
I haven't read any of her previous books but I know I will soon.
Thank you publishers for giving me the early access to this wonderful book.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is unlike anything I have ever read before. Games & Rituals is a collection of short stories, each revolving around a different person and their life. I've never read a short story collection before but now I need some more recs!

My favorite part has to be the writing styles. Each story has a writing style that adds to the narrative. It also breaks up the stories and adds distinction. This was super helpful for my goldfish brain.

The lessons aren't overtly obvious, but there is definitely advice throughout the book. When I read through I just thought the characters and their lives were interesting, but as I thought back I realized how useful some of the stories can be. I began thinking about my relationship with my parents and what I want out of my future, reflected on the beginning of the pandemic and assessed my views on love.

This is a beautiful book. I will definitely be reading the rest if Heiny's works.

I had a lot of fun with this! short stores aren't my typical mode of reading but this was fun! it was quirky and inspirational and I really enjoyed it!

A wonderful collection of eleven short stories that will have you laughing, nodding in sympathy, reflecting on life, and wishing there were even more of Katherine Heiny’s stories to enjoy.

Each story features a different cast of characters often in the midst of mundane, routine tasks like going to work or waiting for a delayed flight to board at the airport.

The writing is sharp and the author manages to craft complex characters (some of them unlikeable, yet, at the same time, there is something sympathetic about them). I loved each story and a few stood out as favorites. In “Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented” we catch a glimpse of DMV workers and their brushes with danger as they go out on road tests. In “CobRA” a woman becomes obsessed with the KonMari method as her husband watches in horror (will he ever admit his newly organized sock drawer is a revelation?!). In “King Midas”, a man seems to feel much more affection for his girlfriend/mistress than she does for him. In “561” a woman begrudgingly helps her husband’s ex-wife move out of her home.

Thank you very much to Knopf and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

These lovely short stories are the best kind of short stories- ones you want to continue, to find out what happens next. Each vignette can be seen as an introduction to further narrative.. It' is only afterward that the reader figures out that the setup IS the narrative. Katherine Heiny excels at the art of the short story, and this collection of hers is possibly my favorite.

I’m a goal-oriented person, which means that even when I’m enjoying a book I’m always looking forward to the next one. I rarely find myself approaching the end of a book and wishing that it would keep going. Katherine Heiny’s latest wonderful collection of short stories, Games and Rituals, made me do just that. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ll know that Katherine Heiny is one of my absolute favorite authors. Early Morning Riser, released last year, was my favorite book of 2021 and probably the book I recommend most often to other people. Take this as my call to you to read this book if you somehow have not. It is rare to find an author who is so gifted at creating the fullest, funniest, most relatable cast of characters who you root for even if you don’t agree with all of their choices. As a result, the characters in all of Heiny’s books are definitively the stars of the show, not the plots.

When I saw that her next publication would be a collection of short stories I was simultaneously excited and nervous - what if the brevity of a story meant that I wouldn’t have time to fall in love with her characters? I shouldn’t have been worried. Games and Rituals is one of those rare and remarkable collections where every one of the eleven stories is as captivating and enjoyable as the next. While they are not necessarily connected, each story contains themes of love, friendship, the follies of youth, and reflection on past choices. In one story, a mother considers her behavior in her adolescence while simultaneously trying to figure out if her sweet seventeen-year-old son is doing drugs after work. In another, a woman reflects on her complicated relationship with her father while she cares for him after he mistook his hearing aid for a cashew and eats it. In one of my favorites, a woman’s life unravels over the course of an evening after she discovers a series of clues about her actor husband’s behavior that don’t add up. I was sad as I came to the close of the book, because I knew that soon there would be no more of Heiny’s complex and fulsome protagonists to discover.

I love everything Katherine Heiny writes, but I think she is particularly a master of the short story form. Each story in this collection was perfectly judged, and there was at least two lines in every one that made me go OH I need to underline that! She has a way of distilling a character or an idea down to a single sentence that is so instantly clear and funny and perfect; I honestly think she is a genius.

I received a copy of this collection from the publisher via NetGalley.

I am not usually a big fan of short stories, but for Katherine Heiny I will make an exception. These are, as her writing always is, quirky, funny, and honest. I particularly enjoyed the first story, set at a driving examiner's office, 'Damascus' about a mother and her son whose behaviour turns out to be better than hers, and the sad 'Turn Back, Turn Back'.

Recommended.

This is heartfelt and perceptive story collection looking at all different types of relationship -- romantic, familial, and platonic. One story examines a marriage on the verge of collapse, and another discusses how a husband and his second wife continues to interact with his first wife. One examines a mother figuring out the best way to take care of her son, and another tells the story of an adult daughter trying to take care of her ailing but still vigorous father. Yet another looks at the relationships formed by people stuck at a small airport when a story grounds all flights. The author is one of the best writers about small things in interpersonal relationships that capture greater forces in one's lives and in society more generally -- each of the stories is great and, taken together, may well prompt you to reflect on the important relationships in your own life.

Highly recommended!

Katherine Heiny is an auto-read author for me and though this collection of short stories was different from her typical novels (I personally prefer novels to short stories), her signature eclectic voice and quirky characters were prominent. I absolutely love how she takes people in fairly ordinary situations and describes them in such a way that they are entirely understandable and completely one of a kind.

A handful of the stories touched on extramarital affairs, which I found interesting, and a few referenced Covid. My favorite was Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented, a story about folks working as driving examiners at the DMV.

This is a quick read with some peculiar and completely enjoyable characters. If you’re a fan of Heiny, this collection is sure to delight. Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.