Wow! Incredibly good. Wonder why we didn't read this in high school? Collection of surprising, ironic tales, with an insightful look into people's desires and paranoias and how one can become bound by them. VERY VERY good.

I've been trying to read a poem each day and more short stories this year. I have read a couple of Edith Whaton's novels. They weren't my favorite, but I loved this collection of stories. There are eight included in this volume. Each kept me reading, eager to find out how it ended. Sometimes I could see the way of things, other times the ending was a surprise. All are written with wit and insight into the human condition and into the society of that period.

The first two, Roman Fever and Xingu, had me chuckling out loud.

The short stories were worth reading despite needing study guides.

I'm disappointed, these stories don't resonate or stay with me. Did I not notice before that Wharton is a bit mean-spirited and cynical, and certainly about marriage? Her own was strange as I learned at The Mount last summer!
But thankfully after discussing the stories with my book club this week, I have a better handle on them and on Wharton's skill and intentions.

Wharton is (almost) new to me, one of the many U.S. authors of the 20th century whose work I did not pursue because I was so busy with the Canadians, the British, and the sundry folk in translation from other parts of the globe altogether. I had read Ethan Frome in the early 90s, and "Roman Fever" itself (around the same time), but it was "Atrophy" (courtesy of The Broadview Introduction to Short Fiction) that provoked my picking up this collection. I generally enjoyed it, and will have to pursue at least The Age of Innocence soonish. I thought "The Angel at the Grave" might make for an interesting comparison study with Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily."

Roman Fever and Other Stories marked my introduction to Edith Wharton, a writer whose reputation I had been aware of for years. Though the content of some of the short stories was hard to relate to, the quality of the writing was impressive.

02/2013

Wharton's writing is so sharp and modern seeming if you changed the setting and period details much of it would work today with it's brilliant psychological observations. I particularly loved the story Xochi. Like any book of stories I didn't love every one but many were terrific.

I will be honest here. I have only read Roman Fever out of this collection (the rest in on my to-read list, I swear!!) but oh my goodness the ending was quite the awesome little ending. I was reading it in a classroom setting, and, let me tell you, we all thought it was pretty boring until those last words. So worth it.

These eight short stories, written between 1899 and 1936 and published in various magazines and then collocated in books, have remarkably contemporary echoes in their reflections on society, especially marriage.

thank you ashley for the book:)
truly a fabulous collection. i always forget how witty wharton’s writing can be—her commentary esp on societal propriety and pushing those boundaries is especially hilarious.
interspersed throughout are also very gentle moments of humaneness that i really appreciate; it’s usually caught in the little details of reflecting back that i find very touching.

Wharton is a master to be read slowly and savored.

Clearly, she was a woman born 100 years before her time, chafed by the rules society placed on her. I can feel her struggling like a bird captured in a cage. I have yet to find an American author that describes the restrictions of High Society better. Frankly, it's chilling. Sadly, I also found threads of current day realties in Xingu. It seems somethings are timeless.

Loved, loved, loved this book .

"Roman Fever" is one of my most favorite short stories. I love the zing at the end.