Even Greater Mistakes: Stories

I've been 50/50 on CJA's novels, but I really think she excels at the short story. The range demonstrated in this one collection stretches from whimsically cheerful to violent absurdist to scathing speculation and dark realities. "Captain Roger in Heaven" and "Power Couple" are probably the standouts that were new to me in this collection. I think the only one I really didn't care for was "Fairy Werewolf vs. Zombie Vampire" which just tipped my whimsy scale over the edge. The only other slightly disappointing factor was that I already owned other collections featuring these stories, but it was still a nice excuse to reread them. I think I could read "As Good as New" any number of times and still appreciate it.

The book jacket to this edition calls her "This generation's LeGuin," but I think that's not entirely fair. Yes there's a heavy dose of social commentary and speculation, but CJA's style is distinctively her own and is deeply rooted in this generation here and now

I don't usually read short stories, but this collection may serve to change my mind. I love a book that explores new ideas, or puts a new spin on an existing trope, and these short stories do that, and cover a wide range of them.

I'd already read Six Months, Three Days elsewhere, so that set my expectations, and I'm happy to say they were met. From classics like time travel in The Time Travel Club to the over-the-top gonzo style of Rock Manning Goes For Broke, there was something for everybody here. The medical horror of Don't Press Charges And I Won't Sue was probably my least favorite story, but that's partly because of the real-world politics that it mirrors, which are none of the story's faults.

I'm very happy to have received an ARC of this book from Netgalley, even though it took me months to get around to actually reading it, on account of my enourmas TBR pile.