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Pieces: A Collection of New Voices
MTV has discovered the authors of tomorrow. Read them today in Pieces.
This unique short-story collection is more than a good read—it's an exciting glimpse into the future of fiction. The winners of MTV's "Write Stuff" competition share their voices and visions in tales that are endearingly raw, undeniably bold, and engagingly inventive.
In Next Time, a housewife encounters a gunman—an experience that changes her life, and her mind, in surprising ways...Pinball is an edgy tale of a young mail clerk's hidden sex life...After her broken engagement, a cook in New York goes to work for a chic SoHo couple in Roam...Mother captures the tragedy of a woman's illness, as witnessed through her daughter's eyes...In Day of the Dead, a humorously doomed relationship begins when a twentysomething's boyfriend returns from an Outward Bound trip and moves in with her...Two old high school friends reunite—and compare their very different lives—in Black Cowboy.
Along with other stories and an introduction by Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Pieces is filled with the excitement of discovery—as a host of newcomers present their works to a wide and eager audience.
Scoring / William Clifford --
Polaroid / Matthew Loren Cohen --
Day of the dead / Aury Wallington --
The white carousel horse / Dennis G. Dillingham, Jr. --
First snow / Davy Rothbart --
The carnival / Clementyne Howard --
Petty theft / Martin Wilson --
Next time / Michelle Rick --
Black cowboy / Carmen Elena Mitchell --
Pinball / Jason Rekulak --
Roam / Kathleen Bedwell Hughes --
Mother / Alsha D. Gayle --
Respiration / Chandra Steele --
A fortune / Joy Monica T. Sakaguchi --
Forbidden fate / Sujata DeChoudhury
This unique short-story collection is more than a good read—it's an exciting glimpse into the future of fiction. The winners of MTV's "Write Stuff" competition share their voices and visions in tales that are endearingly raw, undeniably bold, and engagingly inventive.
In Next Time, a housewife encounters a gunman—an experience that changes her life, and her mind, in surprising ways...Pinball is an edgy tale of a young mail clerk's hidden sex life...After her broken engagement, a cook in New York goes to work for a chic SoHo couple in Roam...Mother captures the tragedy of a woman's illness, as witnessed through her daughter's eyes...In Day of the Dead, a humorously doomed relationship begins when a twentysomething's boyfriend returns from an Outward Bound trip and moves in with her...Two old high school friends reunite—and compare their very different lives—in Black Cowboy.
Along with other stories and an introduction by Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Pieces is filled with the excitement of discovery—as a host of newcomers present their works to a wide and eager audience.
Scoring / William Clifford --
Polaroid / Matthew Loren Cohen --
Day of the dead / Aury Wallington --
The white carousel horse / Dennis G. Dillingham, Jr. --
First snow / Davy Rothbart --
The carnival / Clementyne Howard --
Petty theft / Martin Wilson --
Next time / Michelle Rick --
Black cowboy / Carmen Elena Mitchell --
Pinball / Jason Rekulak --
Roam / Kathleen Bedwell Hughes --
Mother / Alsha D. Gayle --
Respiration / Chandra Steele --
A fortune / Joy Monica T. Sakaguchi --
Forbidden fate / Sujata DeChoudhury
155 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2000
44 people are currently reading
3125 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Chbosky
11 books13.7k followersStephen Chbosky grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing Program. His first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, premiered at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win Best Narrative Feature honors at the Chicago Underground Film Festival.
He is the recipient of the Abraham Polonsky Screenwriting Award for his screenplay Everything Divided as well as a participant in the Sundance Institute's filmmakers' lab for his current project, Fingernails and Smooth Skin. Chbosky lives in New York.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_...
He is the recipient of the Abraham Polonsky Screenwriting Award for his screenplay Everything Divided as well as a participant in the Sundance Institute's filmmakers' lab for his current project, Fingernails and Smooth Skin. Chbosky lives in New York.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
October 10, 2012
It was okay. I got really irrationally irate when I saw a sentence saying something like "You're dad is waiting outside."
You're! You're!
You're! You're!
dnf
March 30, 2015I was thinking of putting this into by "to-read" list because Chbosky is the editor and the description had me interested. I decided to click on all the Authors listed and not a single one of them has actually written a novel since this publication. New voices of the next generation? Looks like they failed to choose some good ones.
May 17, 2020
3.5 stars
October 28, 2020
I picked this up second-hand to read while on the train or waiting for friends. An enjoyable and super readable collection of short stories in the vein of American Beauty.
September 4, 2019
#readingchallenge2019 (my book with a piece of clothing on the front cover)
A well-blended collection from talented writers, with potential. The Pieces, while completely different, meshed together so well. They varied in nature, some were certainly more gripping than others, and some had more unbearable flaws than others, but each presented well-detailed descriptions, strange-fresh characters, and some unique ‘punchline’.
The ones that stood out:
-Polaroid- I love love loved the imagery, the shock and awe that wasn’t completely shock and awe; very beautiful descriptions. I felt like I could see myself in Paris
-White Carousel Horse-was a perfect short story. Enough drama to pull you in and let you ride off into the sun feeling the story was complete
-Petty Theft-so strange, it evoked nerves as I read, as if I was on the edge of my seat, with so much remorse, and anger
-Pinball-humorous….dark humor..
A well-blended collection from talented writers, with potential. The Pieces, while completely different, meshed together so well. They varied in nature, some were certainly more gripping than others, and some had more unbearable flaws than others, but each presented well-detailed descriptions, strange-fresh characters, and some unique ‘punchline’.
The ones that stood out:
-Polaroid- I love love loved the imagery, the shock and awe that wasn’t completely shock and awe; very beautiful descriptions. I felt like I could see myself in Paris
-White Carousel Horse-was a perfect short story. Enough drama to pull you in and let you ride off into the sun feeling the story was complete
-Petty Theft-so strange, it evoked nerves as I read, as if I was on the edge of my seat, with so much remorse, and anger
-Pinball-humorous….dark humor..
January 9, 2023
Tw: racial violence, substance abuse, disordered eating, graphic sexual content
Some good, some bad, many raunchy. All of the stories are first person. They are fiction but are down to earth, day in the life style stories. The writing styles were a little to similar to eachother for a compilation of stories in my opinion. However there are some gems in there that stand out and make you think. Overall I enjoyed it, worth a read for sure.
Some good, some bad, many raunchy. All of the stories are first person. They are fiction but are down to earth, day in the life style stories. The writing styles were a little to similar to eachother for a compilation of stories in my opinion. However there are some gems in there that stand out and make you think. Overall I enjoyed it, worth a read for sure.
February 3, 2019
Very good stories. Good to see new writing talent displayed.
June 13, 2020
after having enjoyed Stephen Chbosky's acclaimed 'The Perks Of Being a wallflower', i thought i'd give this a go but instantly regretted it. There will be other books.
December 29, 2024
most okay, so good, one great. (referring to the second story that take place at the eiffel tower, what a lovely piece.)
regarding the one with the prisoners (sorry for making no effort to look up the names of these stories) — if that story is true, i hope the guy who wrote it gets hit by a meteor. what an asshole
regarding the one with the prisoners (sorry for making no effort to look up the names of these stories) — if that story is true, i hope the guy who wrote it gets hit by a meteor. what an asshole
July 29, 2018
It was good but kind of think it’s over rated
October 20, 2019
The last half was better
February 4, 2020
3.75 stars
Favourites:
Polaroid: 5/5
Respiration: 5/5
A Fortune: 4/5
Favourites:
Polaroid: 5/5
Respiration: 5/5
A Fortune: 4/5
December 22, 2021
Joy Monica T. Sakaguchi's story, "Fortune", was a treat to read. The voice and dramatic situation are believable, unique, and engaging.
August 23, 2009
This collection has received a fair bit of criticism, but I felt I got exactly what I was expecting. These are pieces by relatively novice authors - there are bound to be flaws. But there are also highlights. There are striking descriptions, quirky characters and a range of storylines. Some stories are a little formulaic, and others don't really lead anywhere. But one or two shine out, in particular for me 'Polaroid' by Matthew Loren Cohen.
May 2, 2008
All-round? Not too good. A couple of the stories were pretty much unreadable and put me to sleep. Another couple were pretty much pointless. And, as an earlier review stated, these shorts do seem more like a writing workshop exercise than publishable stories.
So, no, all-round, I wasn't too impressed. However, the writing style was always a surprise, and kept it fresh to a degree. I was somewhat inspired by the stylistic aptness of the young writers "showcased" in the book.
So, no, all-round, I wasn't too impressed. However, the writing style was always a surprise, and kept it fresh to a degree. I was somewhat inspired by the stylistic aptness of the young writers "showcased" in the book.
July 29, 2011
It was okay. Some stories were really interesting and enjoyable to read while others were so boring I just wanted to skip ahead to the next one. Some were a little too "edgy", if you may, and I found them confusing to follow. One story that I found was the probably the best was Polaroid. It was well written and had a fresh point of view. I would recommend this book if you want a light read, something to pick up on occasion.
June 6, 2011
Maybe it was the countless references to MTV's hottest new writers or the oversexed, self medicated characters but the collection was not impressive. Its rude to generalize because I did like Next Time by Michelle Rick and Forbidden Fate which offered creative personal styles and topics in writing, but the other stories were brief and insignificant seeming like a 2 page creative writing assignment for undergraduates.
April 29, 2008
In search of good teen short stories, I read this collection of "new voices." To clarify, their voices were new about eight years ago and I don't know what all of them are up to now. Some of the stories were virtually unreadable and some were interesting but overall, this collection is not very exciting.
April 13, 2009
Although not nearly as good as The Perks of Being a Wallflower, this book is still just as interesting. It has a similar style as Perks even though it is written by several authors. This book is a compilation of several short stories written by several promising unknown authors, all chosen by Stephen Chbosky himself.
June 9, 2009
Hmm. A few interesting stories, but others must have gone way over my head because I didn't really get them the first time through. Fortunately, the stories are short enough to read in those small windows of time that present themselves... like at the gas pump. Honestly, if I have to read the same old warning signs one more time...!
January 29, 2014
Read this because I was a fan of Chbosky, but it being a collection of "new voices," I felt the writing was not up to par, and had it not been for Chbosky's name on the book, this book would not have been as successful. Comparable to a university's creative writing program's bi-annual publications of a collection of its "rising" authors.
February 26, 2008
I won't say that this is a bad book, per se, but many of the stories feel more like writer's workshop experiments than fullly finished stories.
That said, I think "Pinball" was an excellent story. Others were solid, but that's the only one that truly stood out for me.
That said, I think "Pinball" was an excellent story. Others were solid, but that's the only one that truly stood out for me.
January 16, 2010
I don't think I would actually recommend this book to anyone.
I found all the stories to be quite bleak and pointless. Perhaps 'gritty' is the word Chbosky would go for, but I don't know.
There wasn't a single stand out story in this to have made this book worthwhile.
I found all the stories to be quite bleak and pointless. Perhaps 'gritty' is the word Chbosky would go for, but I don't know.
There wasn't a single stand out story in this to have made this book worthwhile.
January 25, 2011
these are great stories. I feel many are disappointed after reading "Perks" to have only this as a continuing read. the stories are great on their own and show that chbosky has an eye for intriguing prose.
March 11, 2011
After reading Perks of Being a Wallflower, I wanted to read everything by Stephen Chbosky. This book was compilation of short stories gathered by Chbosky but not written by him. It is a good book but not like Wallflower.
January 8, 2013
An incredibly interesting collection of unique voices, reminded me of how much I loved short stories. One of the stories 'Polaroid' really stuck with me, and although there were some off stories in the entire book, it was worth reading just for that one story.
January 31, 2014
As a lover of short stories, I was quite pleased when I discovered 'Pieces'. 'Pieces' provided a great variety of interesting & unique short stories. While some stories were a bit slow, others were thought provoking & left me wanting more. Overall 'Pieces' was an enjoyable & easy read!
September 1, 2013
I like short stories but this book was kind of a disappointment. I wanted to recommend this to someone but found myself saying that only 1 or 2 of the stories were well written and were worth the time.
April 24, 2007
not as good as i thought it would be.
January 4, 2008
ITS SO SEXUAL BUT SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOTT AND COOL!!!
U SHOUD READ IT!!!
U SHOUD READ IT!!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews