Reviews for Past Perfect, Present Tense: New and Collected Stories

The average rating for Past Perfect, Present Tense: New and Collected Stories based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-07-26 00:00:00 Louis Ludwig [ You saw something today that would make a short story. I did. I was flying back home to New York this afternoon, in the aisle seat. We were buckled up for the approach over Manhattan island and that curve across water to LaGuardia Airport. How many times have I made that trip with nothing more in mind than wanting to get on the ground and in a cab and home? Today, I looked aside at the man in the window seat, and he was crying. His hand was over his eyes, and his face was wet with tears. I looked past him, and we were flying directly over the site of the World Trade Center. Its empty footprint. ...There may be a story in that, someday when I'm not so near tears myself. If there is, I'll make it as real as I can, with special care about the voices. But it won't be anything that actually happened. It will have a different shape, a beginning, a middle, an end. At the end change will have taken place. That's all I know so far. Something in the real world jogs or jars, and you tuck it away. We write from observation, not experience. It's easier to write about other people, maybe because you can see all the way around them, and the backs of their heads... You saw something today too. What was it? (hide spoiler)]

Review # 2 was written on 2019-04-29 00:00:00 Alice Vender I adore Richard Peck's writing. It's readable and perceptive and filled with quirky characters that constantly make me laugh. Or, at least, that's what I would have told you before I read this collection of short stories. So when I spotted his name on the spine of a book at my library's latest book sale, I snatched it up faster than you could say, "snaggletoothed tomcat." As expected, there were many hilarious and heartwarming stories that made me so, so happy to have found this little book. For example, the whole storyline of I Go Along made me sort of sad and wistful for high school. Not in a "Oh I miss high school so much!" way (who does?), but in a "Oh goodness I wish I could go back and re-do it and be less wrapped up in myself this time" way. You never know when something you say could help someone see themselves differently. You never know who people can be, or as Gene says, "It's weird, like there could be poets around and you wouldn't realize they were there." And- also as expected- there were many characters I fell in love with and wanted to read more of their stories: Priscilla in Priscilla and the Wimps and Blossom in The Special Powers of Blossom Culp. So if you see me reading the somewhat unappealing (to me) titles of Secrets of the Shopping Mall or The Ghost Belonged to Me anytime soon, now you know why. I'm already a fan of their protagonists. Or, to quote Miss Cartwright, "I have hopes for your future, Blossom. You will go far in your own peculiar way." However, I was not so big on the spooky stories section of the collection. They lacked much of the humor, warmth, and thoughtfulness that I expect from Peck's writing- and that's really the reason I'm torn between three and four stars as far as how to rate this book. Obviously, I'm not the target audience. I don't read stories for the sole purpose of being scared out of my wits- never have. And if I suddenly decided that I wanted to read something scary for the sake of being scared, I wouldn't pick a ghost story. I would just like ONE PERSON to explain to my why ghosts are supposedly so scary. What are they going to do? Make weird noises? Move the curtains? Tell me to take revenge on the person that murdered them and stole their throne, which I can then debate during a dramatic monologue? I mean, idk... None of that sounds very scary to me. So, by far, my favorite story in this part of the collection was Shadows, which was less of a story meant to scare you out of your wits and more a story about life that happened to have ghosts in it. So, all in all, this is a lovely collection of short stories. Excuse me, I need to add another two novels (AT LEAST) to my ever-growing list of books I'd like to read in the future.