Lovely set of stories about art, academia, and relationships. "The Unfinished Novel" was a bit messy and drawn-out and "The Change" was probably my least favourite, which is not to say that I even disliked it. My favourite is a toss-up between "Beethoven" and "The Open Door". Reading this was a bit of a test for whether I should look up more Valerie Martin, and it passed.

After the advent of Goodreads, it has become the habit for me to pick up books based on reviews and recommendations from friends. This month, I decided to change, and go back to my old idiosyncratic method of buying a book based just on the blurb and the cover, and trust to serendipity. This was one such book where serendipity paid rich dividends.Valerie Martin writes about the twisted love-lives of people working the field of the creative arts - painting, writing and theatre - in this slim coll...

I love short story collections and I particularly love short story collections that revolve around a common theme (or, even better, connect into a single narrative). Valerie Martin’s book, “The Unfinished Novel And Other Stories,” concerns artists of all kinds - writers, painters, printmakers, poets, etc. - and it’s a sandbox she’s clearly comfortable playing in. Her characters and their pursuits feel really alive, like she’s spent time with them at gallery openings or poetry readings, and she’s...

written with her usual economy of words and depth of feeling and thought each of these stories encompasses a whole small world.

Good collection of longish short stories. Martin is an under-valued author.

Valerie Martin writes about artists and writers with a keen eye. Each story creates complex characters; they always have challenging relationships with friends and lovers. I admired Property, a novel that examined slavery in a fresh way. This collection shows Martin's deep understanding of the creative life. An excellent reading experience.

Valerie Martin, an established author of novels and short stories, perhaps best known for "Mary Reilly" gives us an inciteful collection featuring creative types, writers, artists, dancers, their crafts and relationships. An interesting and varied assortment.

Without trepidation or hesitation, I declare this a very good short story collection and wholeheartedly recommend it to devoted lovers of art and literature.In The Unfinished Novel, Valerie Martin not only displays expert craftsmanship, but she also concocts truly identifiable, interesting characters with extremely engaging plots.It's rather common knowledge that hardcore bookworms have flirted either with the idea of writing something themselves or with some other artistic endeavor. This makes

A recent find, not in the world of writers, but for me. Impressive and memorable. I often shirk short stories because I find them too transient. Not these, particularly, in the middle The Unfinished Novel itself - extremely powerful. How an irritating, seemingly predatory woman can be transformed in the reader's eyes to a victim of the arrogant, short-sighted narrator. I won't spoil the ending but it is certainly one that stays in the mind. This is not to say that the other stories in this colle...

only reading the story entitled "the unfinished novel," but it's already better than _property_. i think what annoys me the most is that she spends too much time trying to establish her status as an authority on new orleans. too obviously constructed. whatever.

Collection of well-written short stories, almost all loosely having to do with traditional forms of creative expression (painting, theater, writing). Didn't blow my mind or anything but enjoyed reading them.

Don't read these short stories all the same day unless you are feeling overly cheerful and need to bring yourself down a notch. Heavy stories of regret and loss, most related to creativity and art, but beautifully rendered.

Valerie Martin is one of the authors that I'm escorting at this year's Texas Book Festival (you! sign up to volunteer! today!), so I figured I better read at least one of her books. This is the one I chose. Keeping my fingers crossed that I like it. My other author is Jane Hamilton. I chose her book "A Map of the World."

Valerie Martin's compendium of tales about artists and relationships is, unfortunately, rather uneven. Some of the tales are gripping and leave you wanting more, while others seem to slog along (particularly the title piece for the anthology). The good thing about this book is that it examines all manner of human relationships across sexual orientations, ethnicities and ages. I just wish the work had been more consistently good, because the well-written tales were delightful although they pointe...

First, let me say that I did not read this collection of stories quickly. You could, but I doubt you will want to. The writing is both spare and rich, and I found myself lingering over sentences, reading them several times and pondering them before moving on. There is so much between the lines here. In a phrase, the author can give you not only a glimpse but a long, dimensional, ironic glimpse into the passage of many years. You will see so much that isn't spoken aloud, and you will find little

The stories collected in this volume are sometimes engaging but often bland portraits of aritsts (mainly writers and painters, one actor) and the small dramas of their lives. My favorite moments from the book: the character of Myer Anspach, the egotistical painter from the first story of the book, and the descriptions of his paintings (which sound friggin awesone); and the portrait of Rita, the troubled and, presumably gifted writer from The Unfinished Novel, the story that gives this book its n...

There is no doubt Valerie Martin is a good writer, and she writes her short stories in the style that draws me in and makes it hard to stop reading. I finished “The Unfinished Novel and Other Stories” over the weekend trip to San Diego. A total of 6 short stories are in this book – the Unfinished Novel the longest of all. I think the last short stories I read before this book came directly from an assignment in high school. Short stories have never been my interest for the simple reason that I f...

I have really enjoyed reading The Unfinshed Novel and Other Stories. Valerie Martin is adept at short story writing. In a very few pages, her characters are complex and complete and that is a real art.The book is six short stories about various artists and their lives which gives the book a cohesiveness.Her one short story that starts out the book, His Blue Period, captivated me with its brevity and depth.I thoroughly enjoyed the story, The Unfinished Novel, Max is blind sided by his girlfriend

The unifying theme here is artists more with unhealthy relationships, which got a little repetitive at times. However, the variety of arts and the focus on craft and creative insecurity helped balance that out a bit. Overall, they were well written, and with the exception of the second and third stories, vibrant and fresh.

The first two stories in this collection are very strong, quietly devastating in their effects. Perhaps because they were so strong, I felt disappointed with the later ones, especially the novella-ish title story and the last story, as they both went on too long, I thought, though I did enjoy their endings -- not devastating this time, but more accommodating to the experiences the characters went through.