Reviews for Stroganov in company

The average rating for Stroganov in company based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-03-17 00:00:00 Ed Casapao 4★ I'm going to be lazy and quote Wikipedia. "The short stories were written over several years and are set in Steinbeck's birthplace, the Salinas Valley in California [all but one]. They include the prize-winning tale The Murder [yikes!], The Chrysanthemums, the representation of lynch mob violence in The Vigilante [double yikes!!] and the classic Red Pony tales" [which was later published on its own]. I would also hi-light here the devious passive-agressive husband-gets-back-at-his-wife account in The White Quail . I originally set out to read just one of these for a challenge, then read the entire book because it revealed a different side of Steinbeck to me. I found them surprising, fascinating, shocking, and enjoyable side reads in between my other books. What more can I ask for? As a native Californian I have loved all his novels set in this beautiful part of our state centered around a vanished way of life and this collection was like a generous serving of whipped topping on that body of work. On a side note, I sing the praises of group challenge reads. Not all turn out to my liking but I just love when I end up wallowing in books that I would not have read otherwise. What a treat! I also believe this would make a great audio book collection.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-02-14 00:00:00 Dan Gauth I have to re-examine my own writing every time I read a Steinbeck novel. My trite phrasing and flat descriptions look like ugly stepchildren next to his princely prose. Even this slim volume of four, lesser-known short stories is packed with some beautifully powerful writing. The scenes are spare in their breadth, but not in their ability to reach into your heart and imagination... HOLD THE PRESSES!!! I just discovered that my copy was truncated! The Long Valley originally came with more than twice the number of stories. I've been abridginated! I loath abridged books. Well, it's not the books' fault. It's the publisher who's to blame! Damn them to Hades! Okay, looks like I have some more reading to do before I can do a proper review.