Inspect The Virginity Of Famous Men Drafted By Christine Sneed Formatted As Kindle

let the title fool you, The Virginity of Famous Men, it isnt about what you think, Christine Sneed is a fantastic story teller, who packs a punch in this collection of short stories, These stories are all about relationships, Although a lot might not seem to be happening there is a lot of stuff going on under the surface, I really enjoyed this collection, Most collection have a couple good stories, a few okay ones and a few duds, There really isnt a bad story among this bunch, Most of the stories are not long and are perfect way to pass the time if you take public transportation to work or just want to sit down for a quick read.
Most people arent fans of short stories, but I highly recommend this collection, Check it out. Christine Sneed's first short story collection was called Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry, After reading the stories in her new book you can add me to that gallery of the tearstreaked, Not that The Virginity of Famous Men is necessarily sadbecause it also blooms with joy in placesbut it contains some of the emotionallyrich writing I've read in quite some time.
Whether it's a mother walking a taut tightrope with her brooding teenage son, a woman trying to break up with her ghostlover, a couple getting payback for all the money they've shelled out for friends' weddings, or, in "Clear Conscience" the one that really broke me in half, a wife gradually slipping into a dangerous love affair with her brotherinlaw, Christine Sneed goes for the heart, the head, and, quite often, the funny bone.
Reading The Virginity of Famous Men is like bingewatching a dozen of your favorite moviesall the ones that make you laugh and cry in equal bursts of emotion.
I buy too many books, Thanks, largely, to a combination of the need to collect and a love of a bargain, I hit daily/monthly Kindle/Google Books deals with reckless fervor.
This results in a lot of blind buysauthor unknown, title unfamiliarthat draws my eyes for any number of reasons, In the case of The Virginity of Famous Men, it was the titleoh, what a title!and the colorful cover, A quick glance at the Goodreads rating was enough for me to plunk down the, as it convinces me to spend way too manys.
Many of these impulse purchases languish in my library unread, a malady many readers understand all too well, but I decided that I needed to read some short stories and pulled this one out.


The snappy title isn't wholly descriptive of the stories within, Some of the characters are famous, or welltodo, but not all, and I don't know that any are virgins, But the title aside from being obviously yanked from the last short story does point to the key element that ties all of these stories together: Relationships.


Christine Sneed takes us through a journey of messy humans, These are, mostly, endearingly messy people with messy lovers and messy careers, From a woman uninterested in marrying her longstanding boyfriend, angry that she's spent so much money on other people's marriages, to a woman confused at losing her relationship with her son and frustration at her absent husband, to a son meeting his moviestar father for the first time since they quarreled over the same woman.
Some of the stories are written in first person, some in third, many with

a female main characters, but some from the male point of view.


But what really drives all of it is a Sneed's prose, which is that wonderful combination of elegant, witty, and insightful, without encumbering itself with a sense of forced depth or fluffiness.


Here is a quick, devoidofcontext example since, as is often the case with short stories, context would merely spoil the whole thing: "There was no prenuptial agreement we had talked about it, but the idea had deeply embarrassed both of us.
He had ignored the advice of his friends and his agent before our wedding because, again, he believed in success, not failure.
He also thought that as a writer of characterdriven screenplays, of political and romantic satires, I was not as interested in money as other people were.
He was right, maybe, but I was interested in revenge, " From "The First Wife"

Perhaps the greatest compliment I can hand Sneed is that reading her book made me actually sit down and write.
It didn't make me want to write, it made me need to write, It made me write stuff that I felt was productive and that I might be able to do something with, Really lovely story collection! A few of the pieces take off from where Little Known Facts left off, but overall the collection is varied and full of new voices: my favorite piece is Five Rooms, about an adolescent girl who learns to care about something outside of herself, with a complete irreverent and snarky voice that we find is redeemed in the end.
I loved it!
From the start,
The book cover is alluring, The title captivating.

I like short stories, And I like THESE short stories A LOT!!!!!
I've fallen in love with Christine Sneed, a new author to me, in the same way I did and still 'do' love the following 'authors' of Short Stories:
Tom Bash, David James Poissant, Etgar Keret, Robin Black, Peter Tieryas Liu,
Susan Perabo, Lori Oslund, Lauren Acampora.
. etc.

I will GLADLY read anything CHRISTINE SNEED writes!!!

These stories are some of the best complete collection compiled together that I've read.
Christine Sneed is a tremendously talented writer, Where has she or I been

If "Beach Vacation", . . the opening story . doesn't get your emotions invested from the 'get go', then something is wrong with you knucklehead, . . :
I don't normally believe in hitting children, . . but a bratty overindulged teenager
I wanted to slap the kid myself!

In "The First Wife",
We know from the start the marriage splits open, We are given an inside look at what it's like being an ordinary wife married to a famous LA actor, His rise was fast and without difficulty, He embodies the "glittering American Dream", Her husband was part of an exclusive club, "thepercent of the world's population with instantly recognizable faces",
Her husband, Anthony, left her for a popular actress, Unflattering pictures of the first wife begin to appear in papers,
Things continue to get ugly, "you have your own fucking money, Emma",
. SOME of the above story you might think you have read before in magazines, . .
but there is more, . . and may surprise you. I read the second half of this story twice,
As with the first story, "Beach Vacation" I 'was/am' still thinking about these stories long after they ended,

We have more,
more stories in this collection:
"The Prettiest Girls"
"The Functionary"
"Five Rooms"
"Roger Weber Would Like To Stay"
"Whatshisname"
"The Couplehood Jubilee"
"Old Sister"
"Clear Conscience"
"The New, AllTrue CV
"The Virginity of Famous Men"

ALL THESE STORIES are GROOVYGREAT in my book.
I LOVED THEM!!!!!!!!

I read, I paused . I reread . I imagined . I laughed . I talked back to characters, . .
. .
For fun
Here are a couple of quotes that won't spoil any story, . . just fun samples

, . "Elsa wasn't a prostitute but she wasn't a virgin either, She didn't even pretend to be, I did not want to be her first anyway, It was always better to be with a woman who knew what to expect when she was with a naked man",

"I will run and run and it will clear my mind of self doubt and angry grudges and petty fears, and I will become a better judge of character and also find the guts to tell the crank callers just where they can stick it when they ask if I have ever tried soaping
my 'boobs and beaver' with Sunshine dish liquid.
"

Christine Sneed writes about LIFE, Her voice is refreshing. With each story a quiet contemplation follows, We think about the issues at hand,
hurts, disappointment, resentment, difficulties, turning points, and learn lessons,

Many of the characters are facing messy situations, but I feel many of them are genuine heroes and heroines they are real my companions sharing the same life as me.


This book is a treasure enjoyable and filled with wisdom and heart,

Thank You Bloomsbury USA, Netgalley, and Christine Sneed I'm a new fan!







Lots of interesting concepts in this short story collection yet it lacked the emotional depth I desired.
So much of this content captures my attention, ranging from the intriguing title The Virginity of Famous Men to the stories about a couple that holds a celebration of their coupledom and not their marriage, a woman who submits a tellall CV with lots of her naked life story, a man who almost has an affair with his brothers wife, and more.
I appreciated the theme of how married people and “adults” can experience loneliness, misunderstanding, and dissatisfaction, and Christine Sneed writes these tales of woe in a way that avoids melodrama while still making one feel sad and sorry for her characters.
Yet, I struggled to connect with any of these characters on a deeper level or to feel any true emotional investment, Perhaps the almost removed writing style or the lack of broader connection to themes of social justice e, g. , effects of sexism, if even subtle, given the many female characters here made it difficult for me to care more,

For those searching for short story collections, I think my all time favorite remains sitelink You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett, as well as If You See Me, Dont Say Hi by Neel Patel and Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang.
Let me know if you have any recommendations! I wrote these stories over a period of aboutyears, and they range from comic to serious in theme and tone.
In "The Functionary," the male pointofview character works for a senator who is involved in whitewashing the murders of dozens of women in a neighboring country.


"The New, AllTrue CV" is written in the form of an annotated resume, with possibly a little too much truthtelling about the main character's employment history and personal life.


"Five Rooms" focuses on a teenaged girl who helps out a blind man each week with household chores and unwillingly becomes involved in the aftermath of his breakup with a woman who lives several hours away.


The title story picks up a year and a half after where my second book, Little Known Facts, left off, with Will and his famous father Renn Ivins meeting up in Paris.
Like you wouldn't be intrigued by a book with this title

While at times, fiction can take us to worlds, places, times, and/or cultures we can only imagine, at other times, fiction can be equally as effective chronicling the ordinary, everyday activities and foibles we confront in our lives and relationships.
Perhaps not all of the situations described in the stories in Christine Sneed's new collection, The Virginity of Famous Men, happen to people every day, but I'd imagine many happen rather frequently.


Sneed's stories are about relationships of all kindsmarital, romantic, parental, sibling, colllegial, even otherworldly, The characters are often flawed in some way, or struggling with some type of crisis or challengesome serious, some humorous, some ridiculous.
But while nothing earthshattering happens in these stories, they're all tremendously compelling, and nearly all pass the ultimate test of a good story for meI'd be happy to see many of them converted into novels.


Among my favorites in the collection were: "The Couplehood Jubilee," in which one half of a longdating, unmarried couple decides it's time she be somewhat compensated for the many weddings and bridal showers she has participated in "Older Sister," about a vulnerable college student confronting something she thinks happened to her, as well as the sudden discovery that she has an older halfsister "Words That Once Shocked Us," which tells of a middleaged divorced woman who wants to get involved when her younger coworker is contemplating infidelity "Clear Conscience," about the tugofwar between sexual attraction and family loyalty the title story, which deals with an unsettled rivalry between a man and his movie star father and my favorite story, "Five Rooms," about a teenage girl who spends time with an older blind man, and the favor she does him.


I was really impressed with the way Sneed was able to lay out a story in a short amount of time, creating complex and memorable characters, and fascinating situations.
She has a real ear for dialogue, both interpersonal and internal, and you could actually imagine people saying such things to one another.
While not all of the stories worked perfectly, I found this to be a really strong collection overall, and it has definitely motivated me to read some of her earlier work.


NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review, Thanks for making this available!

See all of my reviews at sitelink blo . .