A superb collection. . . . Krauss’s depictions of the nuances of sex and love, intimacy and dependence, call to mind the work of Natalia Ginzburg in their psychological profundity, their intellectual rigor…Krauss’s stories capture characters at moments in their lives when they’re hungry for experience and open to possibilities, and that openness extends to the stories themselves: narratives too urgent and alive for neat plotlines, simplistic resolutions or easy answers.” — Molly Antopol, New York Times Book Review
"These stories put Krauss's lyric, precise prose—and, more importantly, her inquisitive and unsparing mind—on full display.. . . . The title story is at once moving and pitiless. It is a daring story even in the context of a daring collection, and it proves wholly that aesthetic simplicity has not reduced the scope of Krauss's intellectual and creative powers at all." — Lily Meyer, NPR
“A sustained shot of brilliance. . . . By turns tight and exuberant, disciplined and expansive, the collection shimmers with insight and moments of perfectly realized beauty. It provokes unabashed laughter, in inspires profound thinking, it delights and disturbs in equal measure. . . . Joy and woe are woven fine in this extraordinary book.” — Priscilla Gilman, Boston Globe
"Nicole Krauss, one of the great novelists working today, has never shied away from asking the big questions. But as her powerful new collection of short stories shows, her power lies not simply in her own ability to interrogate life — but in the way she calls on her readers to do the same.” — Alice Fishburn, Financial Times
"TO BE A MAN offers the pleasure of being in the company of Krauss' surprising, challenging mind, tugged along by an imagination that's ever curious about the limits and possibilities of fiction, of time, and of love. . . . A collection of wonders." — Julie Buntin, San Francisco Chronicle
"How much do we really know ourselves and each other? These questions linger long after the final pages of this supremely intelligent collection." — Aminatta Forna, The Guardian
“What defines a life well-lived?...Krauss winningly explores these and other weighty issues in a home run of a short story collection…Above all, these stories pay homage to strong women. As female characters mature, they find resilience in the power they wield despite societal constraints.” — Booklist (starred review)
“This triumphant first collection from Nicole Krauss crisscrosses the globe in 10 ambitious stories written over two decades that wrestle with sexuality, desire, and human connection…. This is a spectacular book.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Krauss’s first story collection succinctly but brilliantly examines sex, power, violence, passion, self-discovery and growing older through unforgettable characters in contemporary New York City, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Geneva, Kyoto, Japan and Southern California… Krauss is incredibly adept at portraying novel-worthy characters in this much shorter form.” — Sarah Stiefvater, Pure Wow
“This collection of stories from Krauss is a wonder, with the author’s signature straddling of the tragic and the absurd, her particularly Jewish frame of reference, and the extraordinary range of her narrative voice…A tremendous collection from an immensely talented writer.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“All ten stories have the quality of waking dreams—an otherworldly stillness—and examine why we are drawn to another, how excruciating it is to let go of a parent who’s died, or the moments when instinct overrules reason…they are united by Krauss’s unparalleled ability to convert what at first seem like digressions into crescendos of the sublime.” — O, the Oprah Magazine
“From a contemporary master, an astounding collection of ten globetrotting stories, each one a powerful dissection of the thorny connections between men and women…Each story is masterfully crafted and deeply contemplative, barreling toward a shimmering, inevitable conclusion, proving once again that Krauss is one of our most formidable talents in fiction.” — Esquire
“A beautiful, unique book…The stories are realist in approach but there’s a ruminating quality that reminds me of Patrick Modiano’s prose…Krauss’s creative framing, perspective, focus on love, sex, motherhood, and foreign lands are the common elements found throughout this extraordinary collection…While the unknown haunts these stories, perhaps the most significant consideration for Krauss is the concept of love as union…The idea of the independent woman is a firm stronghold in the stories, but also, the loss of companionship.” — Chicago Review of Books
“Brilliant, beautifully-crafted. . . . Many of the stories examine the ethical, emotional, and experiential legacies that parents and friends pass on to the next generation. . . . With exceptional precision, concision, grace, wisdom, and insight, Nicole Krauss creates a magnificent collection of stories that explore what the narrator effectively asks her son in the last lines of the final tale: Who will you be?” — New York Journal of Books
“Feels like talking all night to a brilliant friend...Krauss imbues her prose with authoritative intensity. In short, her work feels lived. . . . The strange urgency of Krauss’s art . . . continues to haunt a reader’s mind and heart.” — Joan Frank, Washington Post
“Many of the themes that appear in the rest of Krauss’ oeuvre are also present here: the tensions between community and isolation, between religious legacy and individual freedom, between the needs of the body and the desires of the mind.…To Be a Man is a collection to get lost in. And when one emerges on the other side, the world still shimmers with possibility.” — Washington Review of Books
“This collection delves into the mysteries of relationships and sexuality…In every story, tiny details and emotional acuity provide a vivid look at how life goes on.” — Entertainment Weekly
“Deeply satisfying…Each tale in the book bends the formal possibilities of the short story in a pleasurably elastic way. Krauss’ ability to tackle novel-worthy subjects at compact length is particularly bracing.” — Seattle Times
“The stories set up an opposition between the safe, orderly suburban American life her characters are used to and an unstable world of passion and intuition that they’re destructively drawn towards.” — Wall Street Journal
“Smart, sad and funny explorations of identity and purpose, and of tradition embraced or thwarted." — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Serpentine short stories that plumb human bonds and self-exploration, in settings from Tel Aviv to post-9/11 New York.” — Vanity Fair
"All the stories explore a central theme: What makes us who we are? They are intriguing, familiar, and ripe for discussion. In other words, they're book club gold." — Real Simple
“A virtuoso performance…transporting throughout…Krauss displays an ability to capture the hearts and minds of men and women alike…A high point in fiction in 2020.” — artsfuse.org
“Recent first collections of short stories from established novelists such as Zadie Smith (GRAND UNION, 2019), Joseph O’Neill (GOOD TROUBLE, 2018), and Jeffrey Eugenides (FRESH COMPLAINT, 2017) have provided a concentration of high quality writing, their tales cherry-picked from decades of successful publication. Nicole Krauss’ debut collection, TO BE A MAN, joins those ranks.” — Times Literary Supplement (London)
“In To Be a Man , each story has its own understated logic, situating the vastness of big, all-consuming questions amidst ache-filled intimacy….Despite our own period of big scams and global illness, Krauss’ stories remind us that the theater of desire will continue to be interesting as long as people—tired, hungry, and haunted by weighty histories—still move within it.” — Rain Taxi
"How much do we really know ourselves and each other? These questions linger long after the final pages of this supremely intelligent collection."
"Nicole Krauss, one of the great novelists working today, has never shied away from asking the big questions. But as her powerful new collection of short stories shows, her power lies not simply in her own ability to interrogate life — but in the way she calls on her readers to do the same.
"TO BE A MAN offers the pleasure of being in the company of Krauss' surprising, challenging mind, tugged along by an imagination that's ever curious about the limits and possibilities of fiction, of time, and of love. . . . A collection of wonders."
What defines a life well-lived?...Krauss winningly explores these and other weighty issues in a home run of a short story collection…Above all, these stories pay homage to strong women. As female characters mature, they find resilience in the power they wield despite societal constraints.
Booklist (starred review)
Krauss’s first story collection succinctly but brilliantly examines sex, power, violence, passion, self-discovery and growing older through unforgettable characters in contemporary New York City, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Geneva, Kyoto, Japan and Southern California… Krauss is incredibly adept at portraying novel-worthy characters in this much shorter form.”
A superb collection. . . . Krauss’s depictions of the nuances of sex and love, intimacy and dependence, call to mind the work of Natalia Ginzburg in their psychological profundity, their intellectual rigor…Krauss’s stories capture characters at moments in their lives when they’re hungry for experience and open to possibilities, and that openness extends to the stories themselves: narratives too urgent and alive for neat plotlines, simplistic resolutions or easy answers.”
"These stories put Krauss's lyric, precise prose—and, more importantly, her inquisitive and unsparing mind—on full display.. . . . The title story is at once moving and pitiless. It is a daring story even in the context of a daring collection, and it proves wholly that aesthetic simplicity has not reduced the scope of Krauss's intellectual and creative powers at all."
A sustained shot of brilliance. . . . By turns tight and exuberant, disciplined and expansive, the collection shimmers with insight and moments of perfectly realized beauty. It provokes unabashed laughter, in inspires profound thinking, it delights and disturbs in equal measure. . . . Joy and woe are woven fine in this extraordinary book.”
Recent first collections of short stories from established novelists such as Zadie Smith (GRAND UNION, 2019), Joseph O’Neill (GOOD TROUBLE, 2018), and Jeffrey Eugenides (FRESH COMPLAINT, 2017) have provided a concentration of high quality writing, their tales cherry-picked from decades of successful publication. Nicole Krauss’ debut collection, TO BE A MAN, joins those ranks.
Times Literary Supplement (London)
Smart, sad and funny explorations of identity and purpose, and of tradition embraced or thwarted."
Brilliant, beautifully-crafted. . . . Many of the stories examine the ethical, emotional, and experiential legacies that parents and friends pass on to the next generation. . . . With exceptional precision, concision, grace, wisdom, and insight, Nicole Krauss creates a magnificent collection of stories that explore what the narrator effectively asks her son in the last lines of the final tale: Who will you be?”
New York Journal of Books
In To Be a Man , each story has its own understated logic, situating the vastness of big, all-consuming questions amidst ache-filled intimacy….Despite our own period of big scams and global illness, Krauss’ stories remind us that the theater of desire will continue to be interesting as long as people—tired, hungry, and haunted by weighty histories—still move within it.”
Serpentine short stories that plumb human bonds and self-exploration, in settings from Tel Aviv to post-9/11 New York.”
This collection delves into the mysteries of relationships and sexuality…In every story, tiny details and emotional acuity provide a vivid look at how life goes on.
Many of the themes that appear in the rest of Krauss’ oeuvre are also present here: the tensions between community and isolation, between religious legacy and individual freedom, between the needs of the body and the desires of the mind.…To Be a Man is a collection to get lost in. And when one emerges on the other side, the world still shimmers with possibility.”
Washington Review of Books
A virtuoso performance…transporting throughout…Krauss displays an ability to capture the hearts and minds of men and women alike…A high point in fiction in 2020.”
From a contemporary master, an astounding collection of ten globetrotting stories, each one a powerful dissection of the thorny connections between men and women…Each story is masterfully crafted and deeply contemplative, barreling toward a shimmering, inevitable conclusion, proving once again that Krauss is one of our most formidable talents in fiction.”
A beautiful, unique book…The stories are realist in approach but there’s a ruminating quality that reminds me of Patrick Modiano’s prose…Krauss’s creative framing, perspective, focus on love, sex, motherhood, and foreign lands are the common elements found throughout this extraordinary collection…While the unknown haunts these stories, perhaps the most significant consideration for Krauss is the concept of love as union…The idea of the independent woman is a firm stronghold in the stories, but also, the loss of companionship.
"All the stories explore a central theme: What makes us who we are? They are intriguing, familiar, and ripe for discussion. In other words, they're book club gold."
The stories set up an opposition between the safe, orderly suburban American life her characters are used to and an unstable world of passion and intuition that they’re destructively drawn towards.”
All ten stories have the quality of waking dreams—an otherworldly stillness—and examine why we are drawn to another, how excruciating it is to let go of a parent who’s died, or the moments when instinct overrules reason…they are united by Krauss’s unparalleled ability to convert what at first seem like digressions into crescendos of the sublime.
Feels like talking all night to a brilliant friend...Krauss imbues her prose with authoritative intensity. In short, her work feels lived. . . . The strange urgency of Krauss’s art . . . continues to haunt a reader’s mind and heart.”
Deeply satisfying…Each tale in the book bends the formal possibilities of the short story in a pleasurably elastic way. Krauss’ ability to tackle novel-worthy subjects at compact length is particularly bracing.”
[Krauss’s] first story collection, To Be a Man , sustains her reputation. Reading her can feel like talking all night with a brilliant friend.”
To Be a Man is at once moving and pitiless. It is a daring story even in the context of a daring collection, and it proves wholly that aesthetic simplicity has not reduced the scope of Krauss's intellectual and creative powers at all.”
The past is reckoned with; the significance of events, relationships, even the meaning of films are reinterpreted. The question of who we are at different times and places, and with different people, comes masterfully to the fore in that final story, To Be a Man .”
Each story in To Be a Man is governed by its own unique and intricate logic, yet the stylistic differences are never gimmicky. Rather, the structures are possessed of an effortless elasticity, expanding and contracting to fit the stories these characters are compelled to tell. Many of the pieces, for example, barrel far beyond where we expect them to end — past any kind of resolution and into frightening and surprising territory.”
The stories set up an opposition between the safe, orderly suburban American life her characters are used to and an unstable world of passion and intuition that they’re destructively drawn towards.”
A superb collection…Krauss’s depictions of the nuances of sex and love, intimacy and dependence, call to mind the work of Natalia Ginzburg in their psychological profundity, their intellectual rigor…Krauss’s stories capture characters at moments in their lives when they’re hungry for experience and open to possibilities, and that openness extends to the stories themselves: narratives too urgent and alive for neat plotlines, simplistic resolutions or easy answers.”
New York Times Book Review
Krauss imbues her prose with authoritative intensity. In short, her work feels lived…The strange urgency of Krauss’s art…continues to haunt a reader’s mind and heart.”
"TO BE A MAN offers the pleasure of being in the company of Krauss' surprising, challenging mind, tugged along by an imagination that's ever curious about the limits and possibilities of fiction, of time, and of love...A collection of wonders."
A sustained shot of brilliance…By turns tight and exuberant, disciplined and expansive, the collection shimmers with insight and moments of perfectly realized beauty. It provokes unabashed laughter, in inspires profound thinking, it delights and disturbs in equal measure… Joy and woe are woven fine in this extraordinary book.”
"These stories put Krauss's lyric, precise prose—and, more importantly, her inquisitive and unsparing mind—on full display...The title story is at once moving and pitiless. It is a daring story even in the context of a daring collection, and it proves wholly that aesthetic simplicity has not reduced the scope of Krauss's intellectual and creative powers at all."
"Nicole Krauss, one of the great novelists working today, has never shied away from asking the big questions. But as her powerful new collection of short stories shows, her power lies not simply in her own ability to interrogate life — but in the way she calls on her readers to do the same.
"In To Be a Man , Krauss’s short fiction proves as elegantly crafted as her novels, brimming with penetrating understanding of the complex dynamics of modern families, and characters whose struggles with difficult truths ultimately challenge and enrich the reader’s own world."
Krauss’s first story collection succinctly but brilliantly examines sex, power, violence, passion, self-discovery and growing older through unforgettable characters in contemporary New York City, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Geneva, Kyoto, Japan and Southern California… Krauss is incredibly adept at portraying novel-worthy characters in this much shorter form.”
"TO BE A MAN offers the pleasure of being in the company of Krauss' surprising, challenging mind, tugged along by an imagination that's ever curious about the limits and possibilities of fiction, of time, and of love...A collection of wonders."
"Nicole Krauss, one of the great novelists working today, has never shied away from asking the big questions. But as her powerful new collection of short stories shows, her power lies not simply in her own ability to interrogate life — but in the way she calls on her readers to do the same.
This triumphant first collection from Nicole Krauss crisscrosses the globe in 10 ambitious stories written over two decades that wrestle with sexuality, desire, and human connection…. This is a spectacular book.
★ 09/01/2020
In a first collection, National Book Award finalist Krauss (Great House ) uses superbly controlled language to investigate how we become who we are. Having cheated death, elderly scholar Brodman feels his understanding of the world slipping away and ends up on the roof with his newborn grandson, while florist's assistant Noa faces the exigencies of her parents' divorce, the wedding she's supplying, and nearby California wildfires. Elsewhere, a woman recalls a teenage friend, heedless of the risks she took because "she was already broken, or she wasn't going to break." In one striking story, a woman who inherits the apartment of a father she barely visited learns that it's used by her father's old friend whenever he's in town: "I will get used to stepping over the stranger on my way to the kitchen because that is the way one lives." VERDICT Small gems, large ideas; highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 5/6/20.]
★ 2020-09-08
The latest collection of stories from Krauss is a wonder, with the author’s signature straddling of the tragic and the absurd, her particularly Jewish frame of reference, and the extraordinary range of her narrative voice. One story traces the erotic awakenings of three young women; the next follows an older man named Brodman as he emerges from surgery to find his brand-new grandson about to undergo his bris. These stories are remarkable enough, but deep in the book, Krauss departs, ever so subtly, from a strict allegiance to realism. In the unsettlingly prescient “Future Emergencies,” New York City residents are urged to wear the gas masks being distributed at designated centers. Nobody knows why, but the evening news is also providing instructions on how to safely seal windows and doors. “Amour” is set in a near future where whatever has happened to the world—war? devastating climate change?—goes unstated, but the main characters find themselves, as a result, in a refugee camp. And yet in both stories, the futuristic or, as it is sometimes called, “speculative” aspects are quietly located in the background. At the forefront of each is the relationship between a couple. In the end, perhaps that’s what makes these tales so moving and so disconcerting. Brodman, out of surgery, realizes that “his life had floated on a great ocean of understanding, and he’d had only to dip his cup. He had not noticed the slow evaporation of that ocean until it was too late. He had ceased to understand. He had not understood for years.”
A tremendous collection from an immensely talented writer.
