I believe Anthony Doerr truly has a gift for details, so much so, that the reader is drawn into each story and kept there much like a suspenseful novel. Such was the case with the stories in this book. All were beautifully written and all kept my interest until the very end, which in my case, is not an easy thing to do. I read this book so quickly and enjoyed it immensely. Looking forward to Mr. Doerr's next book!

This book is absolutely horrible. Pretentious, tedious writing that tries to veil the lack of imagination of its writer through convoluted language. Enormous energy is exerted in describing insignificant details which are sold to the reader as deep and meaningful observations, when in fact they have no meaning and just waste the readers time. As in most bad fiction writing the lack of actual events is not compensated by any internal substance. In one word: pseudo lethargy trash.