Amy Hempel

Tumble Home is the WORST Amy book to start with. I'd suggest you stop reading it, immediately.

IMO, start with From the Gates of the Animal Kingdom, or Reasons to Live. Both those books have a lot of substance that you'll identify when you look at Fight Club through "Amy's Eyes."
(if that makes sense, and I think it kinda does)

I want to read Amy but I have this problem of being too ignorant and close-minded for short stories, don't know why, I just can't get into them at all.

For short stories, I reccomend "Four Seasons," the only exceptionally smart book Stephen King has every written.

So for those who have read Hempel, would you say it's a good idea to pick up Reasons to Live? I mean, is it like a must for any Palahniuk fan or is it just kind of different and interesting to someone looking for something perhaps a little more... upper class.

I know I said this elsewhere on the site, but IF YOU HAVEN'T READ HEMPEL, YOU DON'T KNOW CHUCK.

Her stuff's really amazing. I mean, when my friends and I all read the same short story, we like to play what we call "the editing game," where we go through and figure out how many words we could cut out of a piece and still have it retain it's essence. The thing with her work, THERE ARE NONE OF THOSE WORDS.

And all the stuff about animals, in Fight Club? The kitties and the doggies and all that Marla talks about? Yeah, that's from Amy's work. If you want a blueprint to Fight Club, you HAVE to read her. All the death, all the dying, all the "valley of the dogs" shit, is all in her work.

Jeez. Usually I need kneepads when I suck metaphorical dick that much, but so what? I love her stuff. That is all. Thank you Cleveland. Goodnight.

I know I mentioned this on the site too, but Amy is mentioned, BY NAME, in Choke. And I know that has nothing to do with whether she's worth it or not, but I do think it's cool.

Well i don't know how the fuck to get the Animal Kingdom one, but Reasons to live could be ordered in to my local library, so i take it you reccomend?

Also i saw that quote about hempel on the Palahniuk-esque page, so... your an editor or owner of some sort i take it?

Animal Kingdom - look on Amazon, or powells.com. Get it if you can. You won't be sorry.

I'm just a freelance loser and passionate word junkie. If I was an editor, I'd tell you it's, "you're," and not, "your." I just tend to notice stuff, secret meanings, shit like that. Long lists, in fiction, they usually have hidden meaning. Mostly (this is shit I learned at NYU) it's stuff the reader will never know (i.e. the names of the writer's friends), but sometimes it's not.

And what's an "owner of some sort?" I didn't get that.

Oh, and the quote with Amy's name in it, it's on page 135, third full paragraph: "Guys called wanted to pork Helen Hayes (an actress, "First Lady of the American Theater"), Margaret Sanger (American leader of the birth control movement), and Aimee Semple McPherson (cum Amy Hempel, author or Reasons to Live, Animal Kingdom, Tumble Home)."

The McPherson, I gather, was just to throw people off the track. But yeah: all the names in the book have some meaning. You just have to be willing to look for it.

Owner of some sort i just meant of this website. The reason i thought you were was you'd said you'd mentioned that "If you haven't read Hempel you don't know Chuck" and that you've mentioned it somewhere on the site... and that's actually posted on the site, in the palahniuk-esque authors section, so i figured you'd written it there... which would take capabilites of an editor or owner of the site.

Aaaanyway, thanks for the recomendation, i shall check those other Hempel works out.

Oh, okay. I get it now. And no (thank goodness!) I in no way take on any capabilities of "owner" of this website. Honest to goodness, I'd lose my feakin mind.

That is, if I had a mind.

Where is my mind?

I did write up the palahniuk-esque author copy, though. Dennis asked me if I'd mind (as I've read nearly all the authors on the list), and I said, "Not at all!" And, "Good day!"

But yeah: apart from email, web browsing, and posting on this site, I know CRAP about computers. That is all. Goodday!

i tried to find amy hempels work at barnes and noble, but after remembering someone say her books are out of print, i became discouraged and didn't go to other book stores to look. instead, i got albert camus' the stranger, and like it to the most part. so far. if amy hempel is somewhere between and more modern, i can't wait to give her stuff a shot.

If you're looking for Animal Kingdom, I suggest you look at Amazon primarily, because, as far as I know, the only copy they have at Powell's is a signed first edition that'll cost you a pretty penny. It's not a very easy book to come by. Lots of people want to get their hands on it and it's no longer in print. However, I was able to pick up a first edition copy off of Amazon.com for about 12 bucks, plus shipping and handling. Well worth it if you see it for a decent price. It definitely offers some insight into where Chuck is coming from, literarily. Quick question though, my mind just isn't open enough to comprehend this one line. I love it, but have no idea what it really means. Shit. I just realized I left that book in my other book case. Maybe later, kids.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by SpacedOut_Fetus [/i]
[B]I want to read Amy but I have this problem of being too ignorant and close-minded for short stories, don't know why, I just can't get into them at all. [/B][/QUOTE]

I ahve the same feeling for women writers. I for some reason refuse to read them and cannot find any repsect for them. Im trying though...

OK, i can understand not being able to get into short stories, because hey, maybe you don't like a short story format. maybe you're a fan of the epic novel, like myself, and find short stories to usually leave you wanting more.

but to say you refuse to read anything written by a woman and that you don't respect women writers is just off the fucking wall. i'm not trying to be ultra-feminist here, but 2smokingbarrels, you need to get your head out of your misogynist ass, and try expanding your universe. you might be pleasantly surprised.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by moe.ron [/i]
[B]OK, i can understand not being able to get into short stories, because hey, maybe you don't like a short story format. maybe you're a fan of the epic novel, like myself, and find short stories to usually leave you wanting more.

but to say you refuse to read anything written by a woman and that you don't respect women writers is just off the fucking wall. i'm not trying to be ultra-feminist here, but 2smokingbarrels, you need to get your head out of your misogynist ass, and try expanding your universe. you might be pleasantly surprised. [/B][/QUOTE]

Damn. I was hoping that last sentence would have prevented this. And I have read women authors such as whoever wrote [i]Chemical Pink[/i]. Although that was a waste of time.

I'll risk being labelled with the dreaded "misogynist" tag and defend twosmoking's comments a wee bit. After all, he said he was trying.

I've had difficulty "getting into" books written by women, too. I don't consider myself particularly close-minded (although: I suppose nobody actually thinks "yes, I'm very close-minded"). But, if I were to make a list of my 50 favourite authors, only 2 or 3 would be female.

I'm curious if other guys have the same experiences? I think it's mostly a "young male" problem, who tend to lump all female authors in the "Little Women", "Jane Eyre", Jane Austen category. Or worse: "Harlequin Romance" or "Sweet Valley High".

And, wow that sounds dismissive. But I think it's pretty common. Female authors are not marketed very well (or at all) to young males.

I've never heard a girl say they couldn't "get into" a book written by a man. Just less stubborn and more intuitive, I guess.

Anyhow, I'm all ears to suggestions for female authors that guys could "get". I'd really like to be "blown away" by a female writer (I've ordered Hempel).

For myself, I'd pick Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor. And I think Zadie Smith has potential.

well, i for one don't read male authors, so i guess we balance out.

except chuck, of course.

Female writers come at things from different angles sometimes. Which can be hard on our inflexible one-track man-brains.

Most if not all of my favourite authors are men, but it's often struck me that I haven't really read that many female authors. It seems that male authors outnumber their female counterparts in any bookshop I've been in, but I don't know whether that means most authors [i]are[/i] men or just that women don't get as much publicity.

I wonder if it could possibly be the feeling you have of not being able to get women writers or if it's actually their writing. I know it can make a difference. I was reading this one book i believed to be written by a woman, glanced in the back one day and saw a picture of a man, and i felt a slight bit different about the writing for some reason. Not good or bad, just different.

It does seem like most writers are men. It's almost like female writers don't stick out in my mind other than a few.

Yeah, female authors just don't do it for me. I'll take George Elliot over Carolyn Keene any day.

I was halfway through To Kill a Mockingbird before I realised Harper Lee was a woman. That kind of made me like the book more because...um...weeell, I have no idea why. I think I took it more seriously for some reason.

I never knew a woman wrote that. Strange. I don't even think my English teacher for my freshman year in HS knew.

i remember reading inivsible monsters and assuming it was about a guy, then realizing the narrator was female, then turning the book around and looking at chuck's picture and saying, "Dude, you fucking rock."

[url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3536597705[/url]

if anyone is interested check that out, it's a proof of "At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom" by Amy Hempel, it starts at .01 cent

What's weird is just yesterday I found Reasons to Live and bought it. I read it this morning and I loved it.

I also feel way more secure about anyone telling me I sound a lot like Vonnegut or Palahniuk when I write because Chuck sounds EXACTLY like his favorite author.

Chuck is Hempel, version 2.0. Not that that's a bad thing.

I'm totally with you on Amy. I still don't grasp what she is trying to really say. I feel totally left out. All these people and Chuck saying it's great and they get SOO much out of it. I'm waiting for the day I do, so her books are still on my shelf, waiting.

want a female Chuck? Read Blue Balls. I'm the girl for you.

Mary Gaitskill, Mary Gaitskill, Mary Gaitskill.

"Secretary..."

'nuff said...

what the eff is going on here??!!! are any of hempel's stories full length novels, or all short?? for some reason, i don't understand the point of making a short story. too cramped... maybe i'm retarded

I started off reading Hempel's [I]Reasons To Live[/I] and upon completing it for the first time I didn't know quite what to think. I was left confused by a lot of her writing and I thought that maybe I wasn't understanding the themes because they might be over my head.
But looking at it, Amy Hempel, was the first female author that I have ever read. That put some doubts in my mind of whether or not I could ever understand female writters, and even if I will attempt to read another book by a female author.
However, Palahniuk's high regards of Hempel made me read [I]Reasons To Live[/I] for the second time. When I finishing it the second time around, it's like I felt grace from the book. It unfolded it self throughout it's stories. There always seemed to be a connection between the stories so that it was easy to see a similar theme throughout the book.
Out of my top 20 authors, she is the only female. I am a huge fan of her's and now consider her to be my second favorite only to Palahniuk. I only wish that I could get my grimy hands on some more of her work.

[QUOTE=UnbelieverDjak]Yeah, female authors just don't do it for me. I'll take George Elliot over Carolyn Keene any day.[/QUOTE]
Wasn't George Eliot actually a woman?