I laughed the whole way through this book. I needed to read just one a day and let it reverberate in my mind. I was trying to save the stories for an upcoming vacation, but each day I gave into the temptation to read one more. I found myself thinking "yes, exactly!" even during parts of the stories that were surreal. They were somehow "right" in the same way that a bizarre dream can seem right; it only seems odd when you begin to describe it to someone else.

this is an important and eloquent collection, from one of the finest young short story writers in the land.

This book is so amazing-- funny, witty, super intelligent-- and ultimately so moving. I really was swept up in it. Her characters (even the squirrels) all have incredibly rich and complicated reactions to events-- interpreting them in utterly private and sometimes hilarious ways. I don't think I've ever read a book of stories that sustained such a high pitch of intelligence and emotion. This is a writer who has listened to the culture, and has found it not wanting, but complicated and full-blooded and emotional and fascinating.

This book was an excellent companion. I barely noticed my surroundings. I read this volume of short stories backed up against a wall in an overheated train compartment on an hour-long commute home. Ms. Brenner's descriptions of many of the types of people I have encountered are strikingly imaginative and accurate. However, full sympathy with her main characters was killed by her omniscient narrator. Main characters are often described as being special in some way: intelligent or over-educated, but nothing in their behavior bears this out. I'm not saying that all people who are intelligent or have had the advantage of being well-trained should have remarkable stories told about them, it is just that, if no evidence is presented by anything they say or do to indicate they are intelligent or talented which would affect the action, of what use are such statements as, "Helene is young, brown-haired, and intelligent."? Helene seemed pretty dim. As the fascinating and moving story about Helene proceeded, I was bugged by that one comment. Let Helene be of average intelligence. It had no bearing on the outcome. The conclusions and emotions that were assigned to the lady at the end of the story could be attributed to anyone. This was also the case with the first story "The Round Bar." The narrator states, "Though I was expected to develop into a successful practicing artist....." It had no bearing on the outcome. Ms. Brenner probably has some things to work out regarding her background, but just slumming in the territory of the misbegotten does not bring her heroes home for the reader. Her set pieces are so imaginative, her absolute ability to capture the guest character with one phrase is so astute, I hope that, in the future, the starring characters will have less baggage to carry.

Review written by Ron McGuire, rmcguire@arches.uga.edu Though the phrase "never judge a book by its cover" is an overworked cliche', it is, like most, absolutely true. Especially when applied to the new collection of short stories, Large Animals in Everyday Life by Wendy Brenner. Don't be fooled by the day-glow daisies and cute photo on the pastel pink cover. This collection, by the winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, is a tough-as-nails exploration of the heartaches and minor miracles of the human condition.

Brenner's stories are set in mundane places and populated by an assortment of slightly neurotic men and women. All are bound up in everyday struggles and little victories that only they know and understand, but are somehow a part of everyone's life. Characters like the prematurely washed-up young artist, whose unhealthy obsession for a married country & western singer leads to a bizarre menage in a Nashville hotel room. Or the lonely, insecure woman who chances to meet the older man who will teach her, through his absolute nonchalance, how to see life as one small miracle after another.

But not all of her characters are people. Brenner brings even the lowly oyster to life in order to ponder the meaning of existence. Her stories, as the title implies, are populated with a menagerie of animals, big and small - each in their own way trying to help the hapless people that surround them. There is the horse that nearly crushes a young woman, but in so doing delivers to her the man of her dreams. Or the strawberries that contribute their lives to the science od irradiation only to grow resentful of the fact that they are never considered to be alive in the first place. These creatures that haunt her stories help illuminate the struggles, triumphs, and failures of their human counterparts and caretakers, and bring meaning and understanding to seemingly empty lives.

Brenner is a versatile writer whose characters and settings vary widely, but her stories in this collection have a continuity of voice that binds them together. Just when a situation seems predictable, events and actions occur which propel the story in a new direction. Her characters are always searching, always wanting more from life, but all too often afraid to take the risks necessary to make any meaningful gains. Like the little girl so obsessively afraid of everything, keeping her parents and grandparents constantly in orbit around her as they try to see and not see the little bits of themselves alive in her. Or the young woman fleeing an abusive relationship, remembering bits and pieces of her life and wondering how it ever went so wrong. And there is the young man fighting to fit in and succeeding only in alienating everyone he meets, leaving him to crash through life alone and only partially aware of the living going on all around him.

Brenner's stories are filled with such characters, but they are not entirely without hope. Their lives have meaning - they simply haven't discovered it yet. They exalt in the miracles and joys that come their way, and face tragedy and heartbreak with stoic resignation. They are, animals and people alike, survivors in a dangerous and beautiful world, struggling to find peace and security, and often finding each other. Brenner's voice is strong and her words flow from page to page at a pace that allows the her stories to unfold in their own good time. She takes the reader on a journey into the realm of ordinary existence, only to reveal the extraordinary at every turn - the miracles we so often miss.

Large Animals in Everyday Life though filled with angst and sorrow, is ultimately a finely crafted collection and a joy to read. It illuminates and teaches in a subtle way, and demands your attention long after you put it down. Brenner's stories probably won't change the world, but they might change the way you look at it.