You Are Not A Stranger Here: Stories

Written by Adam Haslett

Narrated by Steven Crossley, Norman Dietz, James Jenner and 2 more

In his bestselling and lavishly praised first book of stories, Adam Haslett explores lives that appear shuttered by loss and discovers entire worlds hidden inside them. The impact is at once harrowing and thrilling. An elderly inventor, burning with manic creativity, tries to reconcile with his estranged gay son. A bereaved boy draws a thuggish classmate into a relationship of escalating guilt and violence. A genteel middle-aged woman, a long-time resident of a psychiatric hospital, becomes the confidante of a lovelorn teenaged volunteer. Told with Chekhovian restraint and compassion, and conveying both the sorrow of life and the courage with which people rise to meet it, You Are Not a Stranger Here is a triumph of storytelling.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490605258

[lucylane_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's true, as everyone says, there is a lot of grief in these stories. Still I could not put it down. What I found hope in was the very observant and delicate account of what it is like to observe someone else's grief. As a mental health professional I would recommend it to others in my field, but first I would recommend it to the people I know who love an impeccably well written story.

[airycat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

You Are Not a Stranger Hereby Adam HaslettSomeone once asked me 'Why is 'literature' always so depressing?' My answer was that it isn't, but when it's this well written, I don't mind a depressing story.If you take chunks of life, add a little sorrow and grief, a little madness, gobs of uncertainty and say 'make something of this,' Adam Haslett comes up with something like You Are Not A Stranger Here. It can be depressing to read, and yet, there is something hopeful about it, somehow, amidst some hopeless situations. The book creates questions. What is the best way to treat mental illness and what causes mental illness, in the first place? How does it affect the one who is ill and the people around the ill one, not only family, but anyone who has contact with that person? How should/do we treat those who are different from us? What is mental illness and what is just different?At times as I was reading the story seemed destined to become a horror tale. While many of the stories contained herein have some real horror in them, it never quite crosses the line into the horror genre. Only two stories even hint at the supernatural, and in one it's barely even a hint with schizophrenia as the diagnosis. The people here are real. We've met these people. Maybe we are these people. Haslett gives the reader a glimpse at rather unique and ordinary people who may be quite unlike us, or he may be describing us as no one else has.

[vesuvian_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This guy "gets" mental illness. I first heard the review on NPR, and read others in the LA and NY Times, both of which were favorable (I think).

[hayduke_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A collection of short stories. Reminiscent of Amy Bloom. Should be read in small doses. A critical darling and picked by the Today show too!

[amanaceerdh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

powerful and moving stories of sadness and loss

[jgoto_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Adam Haslett’s You Are Not a Stranger Here is a collection of sad short stories about people on the edge. The book is well written and completely engaging. I was most moved by the story with the same title as the book. It tells of a depressed young man, contemplating suicide, who is introduced to a boy with a terminal illness. The result is unexpected and poignant.

[cariola_6 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The sadomasochism that dominated these stories was a real turn-off for me.

[msf59 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“And what a beautiful season of suffering it has been.”Wow, I must really be drawn to the dark-side. Did something happen to me in the womb?This collection of stories, deals with depression, the dying, the mentally ill, the suicidal, all the usual downer suspects and you know what? I loved it. It is beautifully written and heartfelt, following these lost souls as they grapple for a foothold or give up completely. It’s a stunning debut and the author really seems to have a deep understanding of these sad but universal issues. Highly recommended.