In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper

Don t you hate it when you re hoping for great and get merely pretty good instead I was really excited about this going in Lawrence Block edited a collection of short stories in which each one was based on an Edward Hopper painting, and the writers include some of my favorites like Stephen King, Megan Abbott, and Joe Lansdale as well as many other publishing heavyweights What s not to like Sadly, this is one where the concept was better than the execution Block s introduction certainly got my ho [...]

In Sunlight or in Shadowhas an intriguing premise Within you will find short stories based upon the paintings of Edward Hopper One doesn t need to be familiar with Hopper s work to enjoy this book Each tale is prefaced with information about the author and an image of the painting on which the story was based These were my favorites SOIR BLEU based on the painting below by Robert Olen Butler I m a horror fan and this story features a creepy clown How could I go wrong The best part of this one wa [...]

Edward Hopper, who s he That was my initial reaction on opening up this anthology But I d loved the idea of a collection of short stories written by established writers, gathered together by one of my favourite scribes, Lawrence Block I was soon to find out that Hopper s paintings have quality that would draw me in They are voyeuristic views of a lone person in a room or maybe a small disjointed group sitting in a diner or just a view of rooftops from a window They re simple but suggestive of so [...]

5 Superb Oh, how intriguing If you ve ever seen any Edward Hopper paintings, you ll understand how evocative they are of time, place, situation a peek at somebody s private moment where you re longing to eavesdrop It s impossible not to wonder about them Block puts it this way Hopper was neither an illustrator nor a narrative painter His paintings don t tell stories What they do is suggest powerfully, irresistibly that there are stories within them, waiting to be told He shows us a moment in tim [...]

Short stories hold a power that longer works of fiction do not have the advantage of they can pack a hard punch that ll knock your socks off in mere minutes, spilling uplifting joy, heart wrenching pain or newly provoked thought from readers all in one fell swoop This, of course, is because they are so much concentrated than their longer counterparts, doing away with excess prose and condensing the narrative arc into a matter of pages rather than chapters For this reason, some of my favorite re [...]

This is a wonderfully produced book with a totally interesting concept To quote some of the dust jacket In A Beautifully produced anthology as benefits such a collection of acclaimed authors, each story is illustrated with a full color reproduction of the painting that inspired it If one is not familure with the paintings of Edward Hopper than this is a great opportunity to become so, without shelling out some big bucks for an art book.I have to be honest, I was not familure with all of the auth [...]

First off I really liked the idea this book is based on To whit a bunch of writers were given a picture painted by Edward Hopper and based a short story around it Now Hopper is one of my favorite American artists and has some gorgeous paintings The famous Nighthawks Room in New York CityRooms by the SeaEleven A.M.So I was pretty excited to see what sort of stories these paintings could inspire and, for the most part, was not disappointed As with every anthology there will be good stories and bad [...]

Paintings by realist American artist Edward Hopper are the inspiration for this anthology of short stories by 17 different authors Hopper s paintings show deep contrasts of light and shadows, some near the sea and others in the city Figures tend to be solitary or uncommunicative couples They are quiet, introspective, and possibly troubled While the chosen paintings don t actually tell a story, they invite the viewer or the short story writer to imagine what could be happening.I enjoyed almost al [...]

3.5 stars rounded up In Sunlight or in Shadow is an intriguing collection of short stories by several authors well known and unknown alike , all inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper I, admittedly, was not very aware of of Edward Hopper before reading this book As it turns out, I was familiar with his painting Nighthawks, as I m sure most folks are If you re not sure about it, run over to Google and see I ll wait okay, you re back Cool While I love that painting, it s not my favorite in the [...]

4.5 stars rounded up.I love this book of short stories based on the paintings of Edward Hopper Lawrence Block, well known author and editor of mystery and suspense fiction, edits this book There are 17 stories, with authors like Stephen King, Jeffery Deaver, Joyce Carol Oates, and even Gail Levin, Hopper s biographer Many of the authors are well known in the mystery crime suspense field One of my favorite stories, Taking Care of Business, is written by Craig Ferguson, a Scottish comedian who use [...]

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The idea behind this book is superb A selection of colored plates featuring Edward Hopper paintings are accompanied by the stories they inspired from famous writers The stories range from noir to the everyday to the supernatural Some actually seem like character studies I loved everything about this book.

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My review from USA Today This absolutely superb anthology starts out with two advantages a true legend at the helm, in crime writer Lawrence Block, and a fascinating concept If you know only one picture by Edward Hopper, it s likely Nighthawks, his 1942 depiction of the lonely inhabitants of a caf late at night But most of his paintings share its tone of melancholy and mystery, and so do the stories that they ve inspired in this collection, many of which are set during the Depression Block s clo [...]

If you love crime stories, this anthology is quite good The idea of these famous authors writing stories inspired from Edward Hopper paintings is fabulous and most of the stories are quite satisfying Best one is Megan Abbott s Girlie Show for storytelling and characterization loved it Robert Olen Butler s Soir Bleu is remarkable and spooky and will linger in your mind for days I couldn t stop reading Rooms by the Sea by Nicholas Christopher Anthologies are such a treat because you can experience [...]

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I won an ARC of this book in a giveaway The book is due to be published in early December it s currently October as I write this I confess to a small thrill at the fact all stories were commissioned for this anthology that I got a two month lead on the general public reading a brand new Stephen King story.As the title says, all the stories in this book were inspired by Edward Hopper s paintings Each story is accompanied by the painting which inspired it, which is nice In the ARC, they re all in [...]

A copy of this book was given to me by the publisher This doesn t affect my rating of the book Read this review and on my blog.The Book Return BlogI am normally not a short story reader but the premise of the book intruded me Edward Hopper was an iconic American realist painter He is known for his paintings that catch an instant of time in everyday life Often you are left wondering what the stories of the people in the painting are His most famous painting is of a diner seen from the outside at [...]

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Ombre una raccolta di racconti ispirati ad alcuni tra i numerosi dipinti di Edward Hopper.I dipinti di Hopper sono particolarmente affascinanti, proprio perch soffermandosi ad osservarli si possono immaginare tante storie diverse Ho avuto la fortuna di poter visitare una mostra a lui dedicata, ed incredibile quanto ci si senta attratti dalle sue tele, quanto sia impossibile non immaginare che storia possa nascondersi all interno delle sue opere.Questa raccolta cerca proprio questo Fornire una tr [...]

4.5 5 starsThe instant I saw the cover of this book I knew I wanted to read it In Sunlight or In Shadow is such a clever idea each writer chosen to participate picked a different painting by Edward Hopper and then created his or her own story about the subject matter of the painting he she chose The results are for the most part spectacular As in any short story collection, some stories are better than others one or two fell flat enough that I had to just move on without finishing that particula [...]

It is a cliche that every picture tells a story As a corollary, every good story has a visual dimension, a cinematic quality IN SUNLIGHT OR IN SHADOW is an anthology of seventeen stories inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper Hopper s art lends itself to this sort of interpretation they feature people with a shadow of regret or dread on their faces and places that look relieved to be left on their own The paintings are sort of noir as is The contributors, ranging from an art historian to Ste [...]

I ve never been a big fan of short stories, but recently there seem to be and collections and anthologies that catch my interest, as did this book First, because of the paintings, as I only knew the Nighthawks and a couple other pictures by Hopper and was delighted to get a peek at some of his other work Second, because of the authors, which include some I know and like very well Stephen King being my all time favorite , others I m glad to get to know better Joyce Carol Oates, Joe R Lansdale, [...]

I m a huge fan of Hopper s paintings I ve only been privileged enough to see a few originals in museums, but each time I do I m in awe at the skill and quiet emotion My own art photography has been heavily influenced by Hopper So, how could I not read a collection that combines some of my favorite authors Lawrence Block, Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Michael Connelly, etc and Hopper s work Unfortunately, it is meh than wow Two were big standouts The Music Room by Stephen King which details a [...]

Generally mediocre, with a few high spots The book starts with a nice concept take an artist s work and a group of authors and get each of them to write a short story from the inspiration from one of the artist s paintings I started with high hopes, but was soon disappointed The first few short stories make this feel like a school project than serious work from experienced authors There are a few high spots, such as Taking Care of Business but not too many.

Non che ho smesso di leggere.Ho smesso di scrivere, anche e soprattutto perch gli ultimi due mesi sono stati dedicati ad un trasloco che, per la quantit di cose libri che io e MoglieRiccia abbiamo accumulato, ha assunto rapidamente le dimensioni di un esodo biblico.Tra i volumi che mi hanno accompagnato in questo periodo di cui racconter segnalo immediatamente una raccolta di racconti che, per una volta, non ho trascinato alla cassa solo per gli autori coinvolti ma anche e soprattutto per l argo [...]

Paintings are both a reflection of story and an invitation to create story We look at art and think about what is happening, what has happened, and what might happen next So, it isn t a far reach to use the creations of a single artist to be the theme for an anthology of short stories, and Edward Hopper provides a wealth of inspiration Hopper has been called the painter of American loneliness, which is an evocative enough label, and here his works are catalysts for an impressive list of authors [...]

I read several reviews before posting, and I am not very surprised that they are inconsistent They would almost have to be The sheer diversity of storytelling styles in this project means that there is probably something for everyone, but if you like some you may well not like the others Still I was happy to read them all and in the process learned a few things about myself For instance, after some 50 years at this reading game, I finally realized I don t like stories without an ending, and thin [...]

Is there such a genre as noirshort stories If so, this is a collection of them Some good, some memorable, some forgettable each taint a specific Hopper painting Even though there are different authors for each short story, the voice sounds the same to me in each story No matter, they are for the most part enjoyable reads.

This was an amazing lineup of writers, and what a great introduction for me to of Hopper s work Nighthawks has always been a favorite for me, and I greatly enjoyed seeing the others Might have a visit to the Art Institute in my future