What do you think?
Rate this book
Some Possible Solutions
What if your perfect hermaphrodite match existed on another planet? What if you could suddenly see through everybody's skin to their organs? What if you knew the exact date of your death? What if your city was filled with doppelgangers of you?
Forced to navigate these bizarre scenarios, the characters search for solutions to the problem of how to survive in an irrational, infinitely strange world. In dystopias that are exaggerated versions of the world in which we live, these characters strive for intimacy and struggle to resolve their fraught relationships with each other, with themselves, and with their place in the natural world. We meet a wealthy woman who purchases a high-tech sex toy in the shape of a man, a rowdy, moody crew of college students who resolve the energy crisis, and orphaned twin sisters who work as futuristic strippers--and we see that no one is quite who they appear.
Forced to navigate these bizarre scenarios, the characters search for solutions to the problem of how to survive in an irrational, infinitely strange world. In dystopias that are exaggerated versions of the world in which we live, these characters strive for intimacy and struggle to resolve their fraught relationships with each other, with themselves, and with their place in the natural world. We meet a wealthy woman who purchases a high-tech sex toy in the shape of a man, a rowdy, moody crew of college students who resolve the energy crisis, and orphaned twin sisters who work as futuristic strippers--and we see that no one is quite who they appear.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published May 31, 2016
39 people are currently reading
3,119 people want to read
About the author
Helen Phillips
14books796followersHelen Phillips is the author of five books, including, most recently, the novel THE NEED. Her collection SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS received the 2017 John Gardner Fiction Book Award. Her novel THE BEAUTIFUL BUREAUCRAT, a New York Times Notable Book of 2015, was a finalist for the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her collection AND YET THEY WERE HAPPY was named a Notable Book by the Story Prize. She is also the author of the children's adventure novel HERE WHERE THE SUNBEAMS ARE GREEN. Helen is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers� Award and the Italo Calvino Prize, among others. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, the New York Times, and Tin House, and on Selected Shorts. She is an associate professor at Brooklyn College. .
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
June 20, 2017
Helen Phillips tells stories set in worlds that are similar to ours but slightly different. Often this setting worked well in showcasting humanity and its flaws but sometimes it seemed more gimicky than clever. At the heart, these are stories about women and their unique struggles; with motherhood and relationships, with changed technology, with dissappointment and many things more. When the stories worked, they really resonated with me and Helen Phillips' brilliant imagination made the stories fresh and highly poignant. But often I found the stories to be way too vague to work for me and I often failed to form any meaningful connections with the characters. I felt that the characters were just a metaphor to work in the greater metaphor of her work and as such they did not always feel real and human.
The best story of the whole collection is the very first one: "The Knowers" - here the speculative setting worked brilliantly as a way of highlighting very human relationships and different ways of dealing. I also immensely enjoyed "The Doppelgängers" and its clever use of metaphor. Here the lines between what is real and what is imagined are blurred in a way that I found pretty brilliant.
On the other end of the spectrum are "Things we do" and "The wedding stairs" - the metaphorical style was so overwhelming that I couldn't tell you what the stories are actually about - these stories did not work for me at all.
This was highly uneven collection: when Helen Phillips stories work, they are amazing and poignant and a joy to read, when they don't they are vague and without much to say. I settled on three stars in the end because the second half of the collection was mostly made up with stories that I found dissappointing.
The best story of the whole collection is the very first one: "The Knowers" - here the speculative setting worked brilliantly as a way of highlighting very human relationships and different ways of dealing. I also immensely enjoyed "The Doppelgängers" and its clever use of metaphor. Here the lines between what is real and what is imagined are blurred in a way that I found pretty brilliant.
On the other end of the spectrum are "Things we do" and "The wedding stairs" - the metaphorical style was so overwhelming that I couldn't tell you what the stories are actually about - these stories did not work for me at all.
This was highly uneven collection: when Helen Phillips stories work, they are amazing and poignant and a joy to read, when they don't they are vague and without much to say. I settled on three stars in the end because the second half of the collection was mostly made up with stories that I found dissappointing.
May 17, 2016
Strange and unsettling collection of short stories. (3.5 Stars)
I really enjoyed Helen Phillips's , so I was ridiculously excited to read her latest book. Some Possible Solutions is a collection of eighteen short stories. Many of the stories were set in an altered version of reality or in the not-so-distant dystopian future. The circumstances and dilemmas are familiar enough to modern life to be deeply unsettling. Some of them are observations about major life experiences, rather than beginning-middle-end type stories.
The stories zero in on the contradictions and strangeness of everyday life. There is an eerie Twilight Zone feel and everything feels gray-tinged. Many of the stories directly confront the inherent weirdness of aging, marriage and parenting. There are also themes of loneliness, disconnection, and survival against all odds in hostile environments. The stories don't provide many answers and are usually open-ended, but they are satisfying kind of open-ended that give me something to think about.
Despite the serious themes, it also made me laugh. Helen Phillips has a way of taking uncomfortable truths and passing thoughts, things many will relate to but usually keep to themselves, and bluntly putting it all out in the open with such wit. One of the funniest stories was the title story Some Possible Solutions, which proposes a number of absurd solutions to romantic predicaments.
My immediate favorites were the ones that most closely followed a typical story structure and were clear to me upon first reading:
1) The Knowers - A woman struggles with knowing the exact date of her death.
2) The Doppelgängers - An exhausted new mom discovers that her town is filled with women who look exactly like her.
3) The Messy Joy of the Final Throes of the Dinner Party - A woman walks into a dinner party and finds that time has frozen for everyone but her.
3) The Joined - A world where you have the option to be matched to an alien on another planet and reach true transcendence.
4) The Children - A woman is certain that her children are aliens.
There are others where the full weight of them didn't hit me until I revisited them:
1) Life Care Center - A woman visits her sister at a nursing home and observes the strangeness of the situation. This one became more powerful to me after reading the non-fiction medical memoirs and
2) The Worst - Interesting look at perspective. It reminded me of an incident a couple weeks ago when my sister exclaimed, "There is nothing worse than a paper cut!"
3) Flesh and Blood - A woman is able to see through people's skin and lives in a state of permanent disgust. Favorite line: "It was bad enough to see strangers and acquaintances this way. But to see your own parents. To be forced to acknowledge the architecture of their bodies, the chaos of their blood vessels, the humility of their skulls. To know that this vulnerability was the place from which you arose."
I don't truly understand all the stories yet, like How I Began to Bleed Again After Six Alarming Months Without. But even when I didn't have a full understanding, I still experienced strong emotions from the overall atmosphere and the unsettling events.
This book's impact was not immediate for me; I liked it as I read it, but a really liked it after I reflected on it. It has made a permanent impression on my mind. Helen Phillips's writing makes me feel uncomfortable, mostly because it forces me to confront feelings and eventualities that would be easier to avoid. There is a strangeness to her stories that makes it difficult to recommend for all readers, but I can recommend it to those who like speculative fiction and are in the mood for something strange and surreal. If you read this book, I recommend taking breaks between each story, to fully absorb the message. If you enjoy Helen Phillip's writing, you might also enjoy the TV series , which is available on Netflix streaming.
_______________________________________________
I received this book for free from Henry Holt and Company & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This title will be released on May 31, 2016.
It never ceases to amaze me that, even as our country forges into the future with ever more bedazzling devices and technologies, the archaic infrastructure rots away beneath our feet, the pavement and the rails, the schools and the DMV. (The Knowers)
I really enjoyed Helen Phillips's , so I was ridiculously excited to read her latest book. Some Possible Solutions is a collection of eighteen short stories. Many of the stories were set in an altered version of reality or in the not-so-distant dystopian future. The circumstances and dilemmas are familiar enough to modern life to be deeply unsettling. Some of them are observations about major life experiences, rather than beginning-middle-end type stories.
The stories zero in on the contradictions and strangeness of everyday life. There is an eerie Twilight Zone feel and everything feels gray-tinged. Many of the stories directly confront the inherent weirdness of aging, marriage and parenting. There are also themes of loneliness, disconnection, and survival against all odds in hostile environments. The stories don't provide many answers and are usually open-ended, but they are satisfying kind of open-ended that give me something to think about.
Despite the serious themes, it also made me laugh. Helen Phillips has a way of taking uncomfortable truths and passing thoughts, things many will relate to but usually keep to themselves, and bluntly putting it all out in the open with such wit. One of the funniest stories was the title story Some Possible Solutions, which proposes a number of absurd solutions to romantic predicaments.
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. (The Knowers)
My immediate favorites were the ones that most closely followed a typical story structure and were clear to me upon first reading:
1) The Knowers - A woman struggles with knowing the exact date of her death.
2) The Doppelgängers - An exhausted new mom discovers that her town is filled with women who look exactly like her.
3) The Messy Joy of the Final Throes of the Dinner Party - A woman walks into a dinner party and finds that time has frozen for everyone but her.
3) The Joined - A world where you have the option to be matched to an alien on another planet and reach true transcendence.
4) The Children - A woman is certain that her children are aliens.
There are others where the full weight of them didn't hit me until I revisited them:
1) Life Care Center - A woman visits her sister at a nursing home and observes the strangeness of the situation. This one became more powerful to me after reading the non-fiction medical memoirs and
2) The Worst - Interesting look at perspective. It reminded me of an incident a couple weeks ago when my sister exclaimed, "There is nothing worse than a paper cut!"
3) Flesh and Blood - A woman is able to see through people's skin and lives in a state of permanent disgust. Favorite line: "It was bad enough to see strangers and acquaintances this way. But to see your own parents. To be forced to acknowledge the architecture of their bodies, the chaos of their blood vessels, the humility of their skulls. To know that this vulnerability was the place from which you arose."
I don't truly understand all the stories yet, like How I Began to Bleed Again After Six Alarming Months Without. But even when I didn't have a full understanding, I still experienced strong emotions from the overall atmosphere and the unsettling events.
The thing is, the organism survives no matter what; the organism even thrives. (Contamination Generation)
This book's impact was not immediate for me; I liked it as I read it, but a really liked it after I reflected on it. It has made a permanent impression on my mind. Helen Phillips's writing makes me feel uncomfortable, mostly because it forces me to confront feelings and eventualities that would be easier to avoid. There is a strangeness to her stories that makes it difficult to recommend for all readers, but I can recommend it to those who like speculative fiction and are in the mood for something strange and surreal. If you read this book, I recommend taking breaks between each story, to fully absorb the message. If you enjoy Helen Phillip's writing, you might also enjoy the TV series , which is available on Netflix streaming.
And thus life was good and bad, abundant and lean, ecstatic and tragic, blessed and cursed, all at once, on and on, forever and ever, until the end of time. (One of Us Will Be Happy; It's Just a Matter of Which One)
_______________________________________________
I received this book for free from Henry Holt and Company & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This title will be released on May 31, 2016.
June 27, 2016
I think the term "beach read" is usually equated with fluffy books that can be managed on a hangover with the sun blazing your face off. Well, I prefer to read books that blaze my face off, and that is precisely what happened with "Some Possible Solutions" by Helen Phillips this weekend.
This was my first Phillips read. Now I'm going to binge read her in hopes of recapturing the weird, disturbing, exuberant, truthful, gutted way this one made me feel. It's like someone took Sarah Rose Etter and Alexandra Kleeman and "Barbara the Slut"s Lauren Holmes and put their work in a blender with tequila and also something gross like Bacitracin and out came this book. (With a lot of hard work on the part of Helen Phillips, bien sur.)
My kind of summer read.
This was my first Phillips read. Now I'm going to binge read her in hopes of recapturing the weird, disturbing, exuberant, truthful, gutted way this one made me feel. It's like someone took Sarah Rose Etter and Alexandra Kleeman and "Barbara the Slut"s Lauren Holmes and put their work in a blender with tequila and also something gross like Bacitracin and out came this book. (With a lot of hard work on the part of Helen Phillips, bien sur.)
My kind of summer read.
October 22, 2016
This eccentric collection of dystopian speculative fiction stories encompasses the myriad anxieties that accompany modern womanhood—from having a baby to attending a dinner party to caring for a sick relative. The characters in Phillips' stories range from suburban moms to futuristic prostitutes, and the eerie, uncanny worlds that she creates are disquieting in their existential familiarity. As with most short story collections, there were some that were much better than others (I particularly enjoyed the first several stories), but each was engaging and succinct enough to capture my full attention. I read the full collection in one sitting. Recommended for fans of Margaret Atwood and Black Mirror.
February 8, 2025
3.5 stars
An eclectic yet cohesive collection of often very short stories, this is a mix of literary fiction focused on marriage and parenthood, with science fiction and fantasy concepts, sometimes asking “what if?� while at other times using dystopian futures or fantastical ideas to explore truths of everyday life. Some stories are realistic while others are highly speculative, but the best do everything at once. My closest comparison is a less surreal and more concept-driven Ling Ma.
However, the 18 stories are uneven; following the principles of good collection design, the best stories are at the beginning and there are also some good ones clustered at the end, while the middle segment is forgettable.
No one has commented on each story individually yet, so I guess I should:
“The Knowers�: Probably the best in the collection, this story asks what life would be like if you could choose to know the exact date of your death. It’s a thoughtful examination that will make you think and feel.
“Some Possible Solutions�: An inventive, over-the-top story about a woman seeking solutions to what initially look like sex and romance problems. In the end though, her real problem is to do with connection and loneliness, and the sex and romance among the possible solutions.
“The Doppelgangers�: To describe this as a “what if?� story about doppelgangers seems to miss the point entirely: this one is all about the demands of new motherhood and its effects on one’s identity. Does the chaos of caring for a new baby make you just like everyone else? And how do the companionship and understanding you gain from being just like everyone else balance against loss of individuality?
“The Messy Joy of the Last Throes of the Dinner Party�: A weird bit of flash fiction.
“Life Care Center�: The first non-speculative story, about a woman visiting her developmentally disabled sister in a nursing home. Feels very real and relatable, though depressing.
“The Joined�: I see some others liked this but I didn’t at all. A planet is discovered where everyone has their match, and upon meeting, their bodies will fuse into a single, forever-blissful hermaphrodite. Maybe I just didn’t get the author’s point, but I didn’t believe the government encouraging this nor find it a compelling “what if.�
“Flesh and Blood�: A woman starts seeing through everyone’s skin, and is upset and grossed out, but the story doesn’t do much with it.
“When the Tsunami Came�: Flash fiction, no comment.
“Game�: A confusingly written story about a couple whose marriage appears to be struggling; it’s written in two columns with snippets of disconnected, mundane dialogue occupying the second. I didn’t get it.
“One of Us Will be Happy�: A forgettable flash fiction fable, also about the tensions of marriage.
“Things We Do�: Maybe it was too many troubled marriage stories in a row but I have forgotten this one already.
“R�: This is the first of three (non-consecutive) dystopian stories possibly all set in the same future, where exploitative cities are so disconnected from the natural world that the protagonists are thrilled by but unable to recognize a gust of wind. It’s one of the longer stories and I liked it fairly well, as two sisters who have always been inseparable have to reckon with their own ambitions and their relationship when given the opportunity for a different life.
“Children�: A fun story about a woman who believes her children are aliens.
“The Worst�: More flash fiction. I think the worst is meant to be that the illusion has fallen away from this couple’s marriage.
“How I Began to Bleed Again�: This story is gross, and also I did not get it.
“The Beekeeper�: Back in the dystopian world, an employee of a rich family accompanies their teenage daughter to the countryside to protect her. Vibes of Carmen Maria Machado’s “Real Women Have Bodies.� I enjoyed the characters, who have much more definition than in most of these stories.
“The Wedding Stairs�: This story only comes together in its final few words, and really it’s more vision than story, a technological take on the River Lethe.
“Contamination Generation�: Parenting in a dystopia. Perhaps a little too obvious with its message about joy and meaning being found under any circumstances, but effective nonetheless.
At any rate, overall I liked this collection. Fortunately, the stories that did little for me tended to be much shorter than the ones I liked. I happened upon the book entirely by chance, and found Phillips to be a strong writer with a good balance between grounded humanity and fantastical concepts. Would read more of her work.
An eclectic yet cohesive collection of often very short stories, this is a mix of literary fiction focused on marriage and parenthood, with science fiction and fantasy concepts, sometimes asking “what if?� while at other times using dystopian futures or fantastical ideas to explore truths of everyday life. Some stories are realistic while others are highly speculative, but the best do everything at once. My closest comparison is a less surreal and more concept-driven Ling Ma.
However, the 18 stories are uneven; following the principles of good collection design, the best stories are at the beginning and there are also some good ones clustered at the end, while the middle segment is forgettable.
No one has commented on each story individually yet, so I guess I should:
“The Knowers�: Probably the best in the collection, this story asks what life would be like if you could choose to know the exact date of your death. It’s a thoughtful examination that will make you think and feel.
“Some Possible Solutions�: An inventive, over-the-top story about a woman seeking solutions to what initially look like sex and romance problems. In the end though, her real problem is to do with connection and loneliness, and the sex and romance among the possible solutions.
“The Doppelgangers�: To describe this as a “what if?� story about doppelgangers seems to miss the point entirely: this one is all about the demands of new motherhood and its effects on one’s identity. Does the chaos of caring for a new baby make you just like everyone else? And how do the companionship and understanding you gain from being just like everyone else balance against loss of individuality?
“The Messy Joy of the Last Throes of the Dinner Party�: A weird bit of flash fiction.
“Life Care Center�: The first non-speculative story, about a woman visiting her developmentally disabled sister in a nursing home. Feels very real and relatable, though depressing.
“The Joined�: I see some others liked this but I didn’t at all. A planet is discovered where everyone has their match, and upon meeting, their bodies will fuse into a single, forever-blissful hermaphrodite. Maybe I just didn’t get the author’s point, but I didn’t believe the government encouraging this nor find it a compelling “what if.�
“Flesh and Blood�: A woman starts seeing through everyone’s skin, and is upset and grossed out, but the story doesn’t do much with it.
“When the Tsunami Came�: Flash fiction, no comment.
“Game�: A confusingly written story about a couple whose marriage appears to be struggling; it’s written in two columns with snippets of disconnected, mundane dialogue occupying the second. I didn’t get it.
“One of Us Will be Happy�: A forgettable flash fiction fable, also about the tensions of marriage.
“Things We Do�: Maybe it was too many troubled marriage stories in a row but I have forgotten this one already.
“R�: This is the first of three (non-consecutive) dystopian stories possibly all set in the same future, where exploitative cities are so disconnected from the natural world that the protagonists are thrilled by but unable to recognize a gust of wind. It’s one of the longer stories and I liked it fairly well, as two sisters who have always been inseparable have to reckon with their own ambitions and their relationship when given the opportunity for a different life.
“Children�: A fun story about a woman who believes her children are aliens.
“The Worst�: More flash fiction. I think the worst is meant to be that the illusion has fallen away from this couple’s marriage.
“How I Began to Bleed Again�: This story is gross, and also I did not get it.
“The Beekeeper�: Back in the dystopian world, an employee of a rich family accompanies their teenage daughter to the countryside to protect her. Vibes of Carmen Maria Machado’s “Real Women Have Bodies.� I enjoyed the characters, who have much more definition than in most of these stories.
“The Wedding Stairs�: This story only comes together in its final few words, and really it’s more vision than story, a technological take on the River Lethe.
“Contamination Generation�: Parenting in a dystopia. Perhaps a little too obvious with its message about joy and meaning being found under any circumstances, but effective nonetheless.
At any rate, overall I liked this collection. Fortunately, the stories that did little for me tended to be much shorter than the ones I liked. I happened upon the book entirely by chance, and found Phillips to be a strong writer with a good balance between grounded humanity and fantastical concepts. Would read more of her work.
May 10, 2016
After my experience with The Beautiful Bureaucrat last year, I was extremely excited to see that author Helen Phillips would release a collection of short stories this year; not only am I a fan of her work, but I am also a big fan of well-written short stories.
Had I not already been acquainted with Phillips' work, I might not have reacted as favorably to this collection; if she is a new author for you, however, this could be as good a place to start as any. This is what many would consider "dystopic fiction," of which I do not usually consider myself a fan; Phillips does it well and so much more.
It's almost as if Phillips is able to stand outside of herself, as a human being, and reflect on the flaws that we are all carrying around from a very objective viewpoint; her characters are so malleable, yet rigid, and their dilemmas, while not something you might expect to face, are brilliantly relatable.
What I love about her work is that she takes the mundane, turns it on its head, and leaves readers wondering, "what if?" When I finish one of these stories I have to really sit back, let it air out, like a sip of wine, and think about all of the implications because there are so many "possible solutions."
While this work is not for everyone, since nothing is, I would highly recommend that you give it a try, especially if you enjoy the format. If you're familiar with short story collections like those of George Saunders or, one of my recent favorites, The Wonder Garden by Lauren Acampora, you should definitely pick this one up as soon as you can.
Had I not already been acquainted with Phillips' work, I might not have reacted as favorably to this collection; if she is a new author for you, however, this could be as good a place to start as any. This is what many would consider "dystopic fiction," of which I do not usually consider myself a fan; Phillips does it well and so much more.
It's almost as if Phillips is able to stand outside of herself, as a human being, and reflect on the flaws that we are all carrying around from a very objective viewpoint; her characters are so malleable, yet rigid, and their dilemmas, while not something you might expect to face, are brilliantly relatable.
What I love about her work is that she takes the mundane, turns it on its head, and leaves readers wondering, "what if?" When I finish one of these stories I have to really sit back, let it air out, like a sip of wine, and think about all of the implications because there are so many "possible solutions."
While this work is not for everyone, since nothing is, I would highly recommend that you give it a try, especially if you enjoy the format. If you're familiar with short story collections like those of George Saunders or, one of my recent favorites, The Wonder Garden by Lauren Acampora, you should definitely pick this one up as soon as you can.
April 26, 2018
The Good: The author has a huge imagination, and she’s absolutely fearless when it comes to writing. These stories are bizarre. They push boundaries. They demand that you use your brain. The characters live in worlds that are similar to ours, but just different enough to make the reader feel unsettled. There something sad and off-kilter lurking beneath the surface of these tales.
My favorite story is “The Knowers.� It’s a sci-fi examination of the different ways we deal with grief. Would you want to know the exact day you’re going to die? If you knew your death date, how would that change your relationship with your family? It’s a thought-provoking story.
The Bad: I didn’t understand the majority of these stories. They are all very, very weird. I felt like I was constantly missing the point. If I was supposed to get something out of reading this collection, I didn’t get it.
The Bottom Line: I’m confused. I think I’d understand the stories better if I reread them, but I have no desire to do that. I like some weirdness in my books, but this one is too weird.
Want to see more reviews? Check out
My favorite story is “The Knowers.� It’s a sci-fi examination of the different ways we deal with grief. Would you want to know the exact day you’re going to die? If you knew your death date, how would that change your relationship with your family? It’s a thought-provoking story.
The Bad: I didn’t understand the majority of these stories. They are all very, very weird. I felt like I was constantly missing the point. If I was supposed to get something out of reading this collection, I didn’t get it.
The Bottom Line: I’m confused. I think I’d understand the stories better if I reread them, but I have no desire to do that. I like some weirdness in my books, but this one is too weird.
Want to see more reviews? Check out
September 7, 2016
18 short stories in 209 pages. I liked them all. Some I really liked. Some caused me to say, what? and start over (and still say what!). My two favorites were --
Children - A mother is sure her children are aliens. Her husband threatens to leave her if she doesn't stop saying it. They are. He doesn't.
Contamination Generation - It is hard and expensive to have kids. Few families have more than one. Grass can only be found at the Botanical Gardens and it's forbidden to play on, walk on, lay on, or sit on it. Walls separate the rich from the poor. Dad, Mom, and much loved 5-year old Lulu don't have much. As a game, Dad and Lulu search for things together - on the Internet. When the neighbors stream too loud movies all night and it's swelteringly hot, Mom and Dad take "walks" using an app. After discovering there is a hole in the wall, the ultra rich neighbor - an inventor with 3 kids and a pool - gives Dad a gift (delivered over the wall by drone) - a small white object that the rich neighbor says will grow anywhere. Lulu, who has a very old soul, plays along and for a few days, Dad is happy.
I think Helen Phillips is the most imaginative, creative, eclectic author I've ever read. Her stories are like dreams, sometimes like nightmares, and always fascinating.
Children - A mother is sure her children are aliens. Her husband threatens to leave her if she doesn't stop saying it. They are. He doesn't.
Contamination Generation - It is hard and expensive to have kids. Few families have more than one. Grass can only be found at the Botanical Gardens and it's forbidden to play on, walk on, lay on, or sit on it. Walls separate the rich from the poor. Dad, Mom, and much loved 5-year old Lulu don't have much. As a game, Dad and Lulu search for things together - on the Internet. When the neighbors stream too loud movies all night and it's swelteringly hot, Mom and Dad take "walks" using an app. After discovering there is a hole in the wall, the ultra rich neighbor - an inventor with 3 kids and a pool - gives Dad a gift (delivered over the wall by drone) - a small white object that the rich neighbor says will grow anywhere. Lulu, who has a very old soul, plays along and for a few days, Dad is happy.
I think Helen Phillips is the most imaginative, creative, eclectic author I've ever read. Her stories are like dreams, sometimes like nightmares, and always fascinating.
September 29, 2017
Some Possible Solutions is a collection of 18 short stories that are strange and unsettling. They often slip into a dystopian world. This is a difficult book to review because some stories really went over my hear while I really loved some others.
'The Knowers' was a chilling read in which a woman knows the exact date when she is going to die. Does that make your life better or worse?
The dystopian world in 'Contamination Generation' is a possible reality. We have degraded our environment and now nature is something only the rich can indulge in. Yes, all of nature. Even the grass. I loved the perspective of the story.
To read a bit more about the other stories, visit -
So overall, I would say this is a nice collection of stories. But all of them might not work for you. You have to read and find out which ones you love. After I read this book, I had many readers recommending me Helen Philip's first book, The Beautiful Bureucrat which is said to be a nicer read than the short story collection. I haven't read that. But I think I will pick it up one day.
Disclaimer : Much thanks to Pushkin Press for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
'The Knowers' was a chilling read in which a woman knows the exact date when she is going to die. Does that make your life better or worse?
The dystopian world in 'Contamination Generation' is a possible reality. We have degraded our environment and now nature is something only the rich can indulge in. Yes, all of nature. Even the grass. I loved the perspective of the story.
To read a bit more about the other stories, visit -
So overall, I would say this is a nice collection of stories. But all of them might not work for you. You have to read and find out which ones you love. After I read this book, I had many readers recommending me Helen Philip's first book, The Beautiful Bureucrat which is said to be a nicer read than the short story collection. I haven't read that. But I think I will pick it up one day.
Disclaimer : Much thanks to Pushkin Press for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
November 29, 2017
проза гелен філліпс дивна і сновидна. так, ніби вона змістила межі цього світу на якихось півметра: історії впізнавані, емоції близькі, образи знайомі � а все-таки контури розмиті, як у димці, та нетривкі, ніби у старих дзеркалах.
авторка добре знається на цьому відчутті. у збірці є оповідання про далеку планету, на яку зевс колись закинув половинки, відділені від досконалих самодостатніх гермафродитів, � виявляється, даремно було шукати єдності на цій землі, тільки космічна програма та щаслива випадковість дозволили її досягти. так от, істоти з тої планети виглядають, як люди � бо вони і є, в принципі, люди � але в розфокусі, їхні обриси опираються схопленню. це така майже-звичність, майже-нормальність; але одна річ � описати цей ефект, а інша � створити його текстами, і гелен філліпс тут майстриня.
авторка добре знається на цьому відчутті. у збірці є оповідання про далеку планету, на яку зевс колись закинув половинки, відділені від досконалих самодостатніх гермафродитів, � виявляється, даремно було шукати єдності на цій землі, тільки космічна програма та щаслива випадковість дозволили її досягти. так от, істоти з тої планети виглядають, як люди � бо вони і є, в принципі, люди � але в розфокусі, їхні обриси опираються схопленню. це така майже-звичність, майже-нормальність; але одна річ � описати цей ефект, а інша � створити його текстами, і гелен філліпс тут майстриня.
March 28, 2016
As a fan of alternative-reality fiction, I enjoyed Helen Phillips� new collection of short stories called “Some Possible Solutions� very much. More, in fact, then her recent novel, �"The Beautiful Bureaucrat". In my personal world of writers, I imagine Phillips attending a parallel-universe garden party, surrounded by curious foliage, sipping unidentifiable, multi-colored beverages and chatting with Karen Russell and Kelly Link in a strange but oddly familiar language. Dusk falls…everyone is wondering if George Saunders will show up� twin blue moons rise�
Phillips has an engaging, adroit imagination, and her style works well with weird, short stories. Most of her ideas start from the stance of ‘what if...� and she’s very good at both dystopias and strange, funny scenarios. What if wealthy people could purchase a high-tech toy called MyMan? What if your children were aliens but your spouse just didn’t believe it? What if you had doppelgängers in the neighborhood? What if the nickname of your baby was “The Queen�? What if you had the choice to know the date of your death? Like Saunders, Helen Phillips tells many of her family stories with a lot of heart and they make for a very rewarding reading experience.
Phillips has an engaging, adroit imagination, and her style works well with weird, short stories. Most of her ideas start from the stance of ‘what if...� and she’s very good at both dystopias and strange, funny scenarios. What if wealthy people could purchase a high-tech toy called MyMan? What if your children were aliens but your spouse just didn’t believe it? What if you had doppelgängers in the neighborhood? What if the nickname of your baby was “The Queen�? What if you had the choice to know the date of your death? Like Saunders, Helen Phillips tells many of her family stories with a lot of heart and they make for a very rewarding reading experience.
March 4, 2024
I was expecting more of a sci-fi feel to these stories but they were really just *weird* fiction/slice of life. they were all pretty alright but nothing special. My favorite story was probably The Dopplegangers
April 5, 2016
Tales With Teeth
(Full disclosure: I received a free ARC for review through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.)
Once something I wrote made the judge of a contest indignant. He wrote, "This is something that this woman should share with her husband alone, if with anyone, and probably not even with him."
If there's one passage that best encapsulates Some Possible Solutions: Stories, it would be this.
Helen Phillips's second collection of short fiction is vulgar, imposing, and (at times) weirdly funny: all of which I mean as a compliment. Phillips sees your appeals to smile and act like a lady and raises them with the shocker - flashed while sporting an oh-so-snarky smirk, of course.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the author's penchant for bodily fluids and other gross things ("Flesh and Blood," I'm looking at you!), the eighteen stories in Some Possible Solutions deal with Very Adult Matters: marriage and parenthood; growing up and growing apart; watching your parents age, sometimes ahead of their time, and the cosmic betrayal this entails; loneliness and (too much) togetherness; and sometimes smothering societal norms.
While I found the collection entertaining enough, I often felt left in the dust, unsure of what to think or how to interpret what I'd just read. Many of these stories are downright surreal. Usually when reading anthologies I'll take notes, assigning a starred rating to each piece and summarizing it briefly to help with the coming review. My notes for Some Possible Solutions? Kind of a mess. See, e.g., "Game," "How I Began To Bleed Again After Six Alarming Months Without," and "The Worst," the summaries of which read "I have no idea!," "WEIRD.," and "WTF," respectively. I wasn't even sure how to rate a few of the stories. That said, I didn't give any story less than three stars, and even these are enjoyable reads.
My favorites are those with a science fiction/dystopia bent, some of which conjure the mojo of Margaret Atwood (her short stories, if not her novels). Several of these seem to share a common setting: either a sterile yet dreary domed city, removed from the natural world thanks to climate change; or a polluted and dreary city, removed from the natural world because there is no longer a "natural" world, period.
In "R," twin sisters Rose and Roo are sent away when they experience something they shouldn't, a phenomenon that hasn't existed in their urban landscape for some twenty years: the wind kissing their skin. Dancers in a brothel, the girls grow apart when placed in a more nurturing environment. Yet Rose will find that there's simply no going back. "The Beekeeper" seems set in the same world, if not the same city. After girls start disappearing from the city without a trace, Maebh's parents hire the narrator to take the seventeen-year-old to the family's ancestral farm for the summer. But the calamity seems to follow them, as the bees begin to vanish too. Last but not least, "Contamination Generation" features a bleak cityscape, marked by poverty and pollution, which further adds insult to injury by allowing the excesses of wealth to exist next to those on whose backs it's been built. Danny and his wife Sarah spend much of their leisure time peeping through a hole in the wall, spying in their well-to-do neighbors, the Stanhopes (who can afford three children instead of just one!). Before Steve has the hole sealed up, he gives Danny a seemingly-magic white seed. But is hope a gift or a curse in this world?
I also quite loved "The Joined," in which astronauts visiting an alien planet find themselves fusing with the natives - who look human, just fuzzy around the edges. At first we on Earth were appalled - until we weren't: "The hermaphrodite craze consumes our globe." "The Joined" feels like it'd be at home in an Ursula LeGuin collection. "The Knowers" is pretty great, too, if a bit of a tease. If you could know the date of your death, would you? And how might that knowledge affect your life, and that of the people in it? And the titular "Some Possible [Romantic] Solutions" is wicked fun. Do you choose an android male, a sex toy given voice? Maybe a second wife is more your thing? Or how about burning the whole institution to the ground?
I have to admit, as much as I loved these stories, even here I felt like I was only peeling back the top of many layers. This is heavy stuff, but maybe that's your thing? Personally this collection comes in around 3.5 stars for me - better than okay but not without some frustrations - yet if surreal fiction is your thing, it might be in the 4-5 star range. Phillips is nothing if not imaginative - and biting.
(Full disclosure: I received a free ARC for review through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.)
Once something I wrote made the judge of a contest indignant. He wrote, "This is something that this woman should share with her husband alone, if with anyone, and probably not even with him."
If there's one passage that best encapsulates Some Possible Solutions: Stories, it would be this.
Helen Phillips's second collection of short fiction is vulgar, imposing, and (at times) weirdly funny: all of which I mean as a compliment. Phillips sees your appeals to smile and act like a lady and raises them with the shocker - flashed while sporting an oh-so-snarky smirk, of course.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the author's penchant for bodily fluids and other gross things ("Flesh and Blood," I'm looking at you!), the eighteen stories in Some Possible Solutions deal with Very Adult Matters: marriage and parenthood; growing up and growing apart; watching your parents age, sometimes ahead of their time, and the cosmic betrayal this entails; loneliness and (too much) togetherness; and sometimes smothering societal norms.
While I found the collection entertaining enough, I often felt left in the dust, unsure of what to think or how to interpret what I'd just read. Many of these stories are downright surreal. Usually when reading anthologies I'll take notes, assigning a starred rating to each piece and summarizing it briefly to help with the coming review. My notes for Some Possible Solutions? Kind of a mess. See, e.g., "Game," "How I Began To Bleed Again After Six Alarming Months Without," and "The Worst," the summaries of which read "I have no idea!," "WEIRD.," and "WTF," respectively. I wasn't even sure how to rate a few of the stories. That said, I didn't give any story less than three stars, and even these are enjoyable reads.
My favorites are those with a science fiction/dystopia bent, some of which conjure the mojo of Margaret Atwood (her short stories, if not her novels). Several of these seem to share a common setting: either a sterile yet dreary domed city, removed from the natural world thanks to climate change; or a polluted and dreary city, removed from the natural world because there is no longer a "natural" world, period.
In "R," twin sisters Rose and Roo are sent away when they experience something they shouldn't, a phenomenon that hasn't existed in their urban landscape for some twenty years: the wind kissing their skin. Dancers in a brothel, the girls grow apart when placed in a more nurturing environment. Yet Rose will find that there's simply no going back. "The Beekeeper" seems set in the same world, if not the same city. After girls start disappearing from the city without a trace, Maebh's parents hire the narrator to take the seventeen-year-old to the family's ancestral farm for the summer. But the calamity seems to follow them, as the bees begin to vanish too. Last but not least, "Contamination Generation" features a bleak cityscape, marked by poverty and pollution, which further adds insult to injury by allowing the excesses of wealth to exist next to those on whose backs it's been built. Danny and his wife Sarah spend much of their leisure time peeping through a hole in the wall, spying in their well-to-do neighbors, the Stanhopes (who can afford three children instead of just one!). Before Steve has the hole sealed up, he gives Danny a seemingly-magic white seed. But is hope a gift or a curse in this world?
I also quite loved "The Joined," in which astronauts visiting an alien planet find themselves fusing with the natives - who look human, just fuzzy around the edges. At first we on Earth were appalled - until we weren't: "The hermaphrodite craze consumes our globe." "The Joined" feels like it'd be at home in an Ursula LeGuin collection. "The Knowers" is pretty great, too, if a bit of a tease. If you could know the date of your death, would you? And how might that knowledge affect your life, and that of the people in it? And the titular "Some Possible [Romantic] Solutions" is wicked fun. Do you choose an android male, a sex toy given voice? Maybe a second wife is more your thing? Or how about burning the whole institution to the ground?
I have to admit, as much as I loved these stories, even here I felt like I was only peeling back the top of many layers. This is heavy stuff, but maybe that's your thing? Personally this collection comes in around 3.5 stars for me - better than okay but not without some frustrations - yet if surreal fiction is your thing, it might be in the 4-5 star range. Phillips is nothing if not imaginative - and biting.
April 4, 2016
I used to read a lot more short stories, but for whatever reason I got away from them. This is the kind of book that reminds me just how good they can be. The author has a way of taking the mundane facets of our lives and reimagining them in a unique and at times unsettling way. Each story paints such a vivid picture in your head that you can't soon forget them even if you wanted to try. I had to force myself to stop after each story to let it bounce around in my head until I could make some sense of it before going on to the next one.
This is my second book from this author. Her last book The Beautiful Bureaucrat was one of my favorite reads of 2015. I know this one will be on my list of favorites for 2016. I also know that Helen Phillips has made my list of must read authors.
This is my second book from this author. Her last book The Beautiful Bureaucrat was one of my favorite reads of 2015. I know this one will be on my list of favorites for 2016. I also know that Helen Phillips has made my list of must read authors.
Read
July 26, 2016My review for this collection was published today. Here's the link:
September 8, 2016
Delightfully strange stories, some long, and some very short. I almost felt like I was reading snippets of The Twilight Zone.
November 11, 2016
Such a perfect collection. Great variety, so many haunting little vignettes I would gladly read 200-300 more pages of. Really wonderful. Kind of melancholy.
August 1, 2018
Seit "How to breath underwater" bin ich von Shortstory Collections hellauf begeistert. Nicht, dass ich Unmengen davon gelesen hätte, aber ich wäre durchaus bereit dazu, sobald sich die Gelegenheit bietet.
Also bin ich ohne Vorkenntnisse (weder Titel, Genre oder Autor waren mir bekannt) in dieses Buch gesprungen. Es ließ sich ziemlich leicht lesen, wegen der Kurzgeschichtenform und es war auch ab und zu unterhaltsam. Doch konnte ich leider nicht wirklich etwas aus diesem Buch für mich mitnehmen. Die erste Hälfte des Buches war auch ziemlich vulgär, während das in der zweiten Hälfte komplett verschwindet. Zwischen den überwiegend positiven Reviews habe ich auch ein paar gesehen, wo die Leser sagen, dass ihnen der Punkt der Geschichte entgeht und, dass es ihnen so vorkommt, als ob sie konstant etwas verpassen würden, weil es eben so verdammt seltsam erzählt ist. So geht es mir auch. Es ist durchaus kreativ und unerwartet. Aber es ist nicht genial, es ist eher eine Anreihung seltsamer Sci-Fi (Black Mirror Wannabe) Geschichten, die keinen richtigen Sinn haben. Nett für Zwischendurch, aber nochmal lesen oder weiterempfehlen würde ich das Buch nicht.
Also bin ich ohne Vorkenntnisse (weder Titel, Genre oder Autor waren mir bekannt) in dieses Buch gesprungen. Es ließ sich ziemlich leicht lesen, wegen der Kurzgeschichtenform und es war auch ab und zu unterhaltsam. Doch konnte ich leider nicht wirklich etwas aus diesem Buch für mich mitnehmen. Die erste Hälfte des Buches war auch ziemlich vulgär, während das in der zweiten Hälfte komplett verschwindet. Zwischen den überwiegend positiven Reviews habe ich auch ein paar gesehen, wo die Leser sagen, dass ihnen der Punkt der Geschichte entgeht und, dass es ihnen so vorkommt, als ob sie konstant etwas verpassen würden, weil es eben so verdammt seltsam erzählt ist. So geht es mir auch. Es ist durchaus kreativ und unerwartet. Aber es ist nicht genial, es ist eher eine Anreihung seltsamer Sci-Fi (Black Mirror Wannabe) Geschichten, die keinen richtigen Sinn haben. Nett für Zwischendurch, aber nochmal lesen oder weiterempfehlen würde ich das Buch nicht.
April 6, 2017
This collection reminded me of stories I love from both Shirley Jackson and Amy Hempel—though sometimes almost a bit too much. ("Life Care Center" felt particularly close to Hempel.) Phillips really got parenting, and her stories about raising children and navigating those new, complicated and beautiful relationships were fantastic. (Really, what better way to explain being a parent is there than with a story about how your children are *literal* aliens who you love with your whole heart even though you surely can't understand them?) "Contamination Generation," "The Doppelgängers," and "The Beekeeper" were all highlights for me.
August 10, 2024
A collection of quirky short stories.
My favorite ones are more towards the front of the book, including The Knowers, the Doppelgängers, The Messy Joy of the Final Throes of the Dinner Party, and The Joined.
If I ever reread this book, I would focus on those four stories above.
Some of my least favorite ones include When the Tsunami Came, Game, The Wedding Stairs, and The Worst.
I wonder why the author Phillips even included those stories at all, they felt more like some statements of art instead of actual stories.
My favorite ones are more towards the front of the book, including The Knowers, the Doppelgängers, The Messy Joy of the Final Throes of the Dinner Party, and The Joined.
If I ever reread this book, I would focus on those four stories above.
Some of my least favorite ones include When the Tsunami Came, Game, The Wedding Stairs, and The Worst.
I wonder why the author Phillips even included those stories at all, they felt more like some statements of art instead of actual stories.
January 6, 2018
I’m so moved
so entertained
by this surreal
fantastic
deeply divine
collection.
These stories will remain with me.
If they so choose the narrator would say.
Thank you HP.
so entertained
by this surreal
fantastic
deeply divine
collection.
These stories will remain with me.
If they so choose the narrator would say.
Thank you HP.
May 30, 2021
I enjoyed the last story, but the rest were too "out there" for my taste.
May 31, 2016
Actual rating: [3.5]
I'm a huge Helen Phillips fan. I'm still obsessed with her debut novel The Beautiful Bureaucrat and constantly find myself recommending it. So you can imagine how excited I was to hear that she had a new collection of short stories coming out. You can count on Phillips for at least a little bit of weirdness in each story she tells, often veering into science fiction territory, and she didn't disappoint in that respect.
Almost all of the stories are sort of dystopian. Characters live in worlds that are slightly different from ours, but worlds that are still believable. Still startling close. Characters yearn for how things used to be and struggle against their new realities. They're mournful and strange, but small bright spots of hope slip in through the cracks of these stories. Almost all of them are heavily relationship or childrearing focused. This isn't really a problem, but I'm both coldhearted and picky. So after a while, the stories started to blend together a little bit and felt borderline one note.
Some Possible Solutions holds some very powerful, strange stories that are going to stay with me forever. "The Knowers" is the first story and possibly my favorite: people can opt to learn the exact date of their death. We see how that affects a relationship and it's incredible. The writing is tight and gripping, and the ending moved me to tears. "Life Care Center" is autobiographical and heartbreaking. "The Joined" is a fantastic alien tale of finding a planet where each of us Earthlings have a perfect match, and we learn what joining with that match means. "Children" is another great alien story of sorts, where a parent doesn't quite understand her twin children. One of the child-themed stories I actually really liked. And, the powerful final "Contamination Generation" about a man's attempt to make his daughter's life magical in a grim near-future.
At the same time, there are a lot of stories that I straight up did not understand. And I'm kind of used to not understanding a number of contemporary short stories in a collection. This just got kind of frustrating because I'd read three stories in a row and at the end of each think "Well, there goes another one -- right over my head." Specifically, some that left me confused: "Game", "The Worst", "How I Began to Bleed Again After Six Alarming Months Without." There are definitely more, but I'm giving myself some credit in that I "sort of" got them and was just mildly confused at the end.
Ok, I just went and counted the stories and I wasn't confident about understanding quite literally half of them. I hope for a better ratio when reading, and I don't know if it's the stories or if it's me. A lot of them were missing that dark cleverness that I really appreciated in The Beautiful Bureaucrat and perhaps unfairly expected to find in this collection. Overall it was a fascinating read -- being in Phillips' head always is -- but it did not completely live up to my expectations.
Thanks to Henry Holt for sending me an advanced copy of Some Possible Solutions to review!
Full Review + GIVEAWAY:
I'm a huge Helen Phillips fan. I'm still obsessed with her debut novel The Beautiful Bureaucrat and constantly find myself recommending it. So you can imagine how excited I was to hear that she had a new collection of short stories coming out. You can count on Phillips for at least a little bit of weirdness in each story she tells, often veering into science fiction territory, and she didn't disappoint in that respect.
Almost all of the stories are sort of dystopian. Characters live in worlds that are slightly different from ours, but worlds that are still believable. Still startling close. Characters yearn for how things used to be and struggle against their new realities. They're mournful and strange, but small bright spots of hope slip in through the cracks of these stories. Almost all of them are heavily relationship or childrearing focused. This isn't really a problem, but I'm both coldhearted and picky. So after a while, the stories started to blend together a little bit and felt borderline one note.
Some Possible Solutions holds some very powerful, strange stories that are going to stay with me forever. "The Knowers" is the first story and possibly my favorite: people can opt to learn the exact date of their death. We see how that affects a relationship and it's incredible. The writing is tight and gripping, and the ending moved me to tears. "Life Care Center" is autobiographical and heartbreaking. "The Joined" is a fantastic alien tale of finding a planet where each of us Earthlings have a perfect match, and we learn what joining with that match means. "Children" is another great alien story of sorts, where a parent doesn't quite understand her twin children. One of the child-themed stories I actually really liked. And, the powerful final "Contamination Generation" about a man's attempt to make his daughter's life magical in a grim near-future.
He knows better than anyone how they are always talking to each other in a language we don't understand, always putting jam on their hot dogs. They've never belonged to us, not even for a second. - Children
At the same time, there are a lot of stories that I straight up did not understand. And I'm kind of used to not understanding a number of contemporary short stories in a collection. This just got kind of frustrating because I'd read three stories in a row and at the end of each think "Well, there goes another one -- right over my head." Specifically, some that left me confused: "Game", "The Worst", "How I Began to Bleed Again After Six Alarming Months Without." There are definitely more, but I'm giving myself some credit in that I "sort of" got them and was just mildly confused at the end.
Ok, I just went and counted the stories and I wasn't confident about understanding quite literally half of them. I hope for a better ratio when reading, and I don't know if it's the stories or if it's me. A lot of them were missing that dark cleverness that I really appreciated in The Beautiful Bureaucrat and perhaps unfairly expected to find in this collection. Overall it was a fascinating read -- being in Phillips' head always is -- but it did not completely live up to my expectations.
Thanks to Henry Holt for sending me an advanced copy of Some Possible Solutions to review!
Full Review + GIVEAWAY:
May 20, 2016
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advance reader's copy of this book.
My love for Phillips� The Beautiful Bureaucrat created sky high expectations for this short story collection…despite short stories tending to be hit or miss for me. Well…this collection proved just like most others…hit and miss (with more misses than hits). If you read The Beautiful Bureaucrat, you know to expect some weirdness from Helen Phillips and she delivers that here. But, Bureaucrat had me dying to figure out the weirdness whereas some of the stories in Some Possible Solutions (Game, One of Us Will Be Happy, Children) left me so confused that I wasn’t even interested in trying to figure out the point of it all (my notes literally say “didn’t get it�).
But, there are some bright spots! The first story, The Knowers, had me pondering whether I’d want to know my date of death in incredibly dramatic fashion. The last story, Contamination Generation, was a heartbreaking piece of social commentary. And, there were a couple that posed simple life questions in tongue-in-cheek ways. The MyMan Solution got me thinking about what wives are really looking for in their partners…via a woman who purchases a life-like robot/sex toy. And The Wife Solution explores what someone wants in a wife (or, what they think they want)…via a married couple that hire a “wife� to serve all their needs (his and hers). Though these bright spots shined, there weren’t enough of them to overcome my confusion with many of the other stories.
Visit my blog, , for more reviews.
My love for Phillips� The Beautiful Bureaucrat created sky high expectations for this short story collection…despite short stories tending to be hit or miss for me. Well…this collection proved just like most others…hit and miss (with more misses than hits). If you read The Beautiful Bureaucrat, you know to expect some weirdness from Helen Phillips and she delivers that here. But, Bureaucrat had me dying to figure out the weirdness whereas some of the stories in Some Possible Solutions (Game, One of Us Will Be Happy, Children) left me so confused that I wasn’t even interested in trying to figure out the point of it all (my notes literally say “didn’t get it�).
But, there are some bright spots! The first story, The Knowers, had me pondering whether I’d want to know my date of death in incredibly dramatic fashion. The last story, Contamination Generation, was a heartbreaking piece of social commentary. And, there were a couple that posed simple life questions in tongue-in-cheek ways. The MyMan Solution got me thinking about what wives are really looking for in their partners…via a woman who purchases a life-like robot/sex toy. And The Wife Solution explores what someone wants in a wife (or, what they think they want)…via a married couple that hire a “wife� to serve all their needs (his and hers). Though these bright spots shined, there weren’t enough of them to overcome my confusion with many of the other stories.
Visit my blog, , for more reviews.
June 1, 2016
Phillips does an excellent job of writing about tough subjects without making the reader feel weighed down by the characters. Not to make ~everything about me~, but I’ve been having a hard year, and Phillips books have done so much to help me sit in the darkness without being completely overwhelmed. This sounds so dramatic, I promise you’re not going to be depressed walking away from these books. And maybe you’ll try it and won’t like it, but the way death is written in Some Possible Solutions (and also The Beautiful Bureaucrat) has been so comforting to me. I feel like I found her work at the exact right time, and I’m always going to be grateful to these books.
August 24, 2016
So well written, but I finished too many of the stories feeling like I was missing something. I also find myself biased against short stories because I want to spend more time with the characters. I did very much enjoy "The Knowers" and "The Messy Joy of the Final Throes of the Dinner Party," though. And for readers who especially enjoy magical realism and short fiction, this book would be perfect.
October 4, 2016
First half of book - awesome, every story seemingly taking place in a different world. Second half - I felt like most stories were in the same city devoid of nature, and it became pretty predictable - "Oh, they don't know what (natural element) is when they encounter it, how sad for them, we better not let earth get like that, etc". Maybe I just didn't get it. If the back end of the book had more variety, this would be a 4 rating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2016
I think my rating has more to do with the fact that I straight up did not fully comprehend some of the stories in the second half of the book, but the ones I did get I absolutely enjoyed. Overall a fascinating read, and I recommend you check it out. I will pick up her debut novel at some point because I'm definitely into the stories she has to tell.
June 24, 2016
This was great. This was basically what I was hoping American Housewife would be: a look at the slightly creepy side of women, but with a hint of speculative fiction. The stories are unrelated but feel like they're all set in the same universe, which brings some cohesion that I enjoyed. I tore through this collection and wish it had been double the length.
April 1, 2016
Read my full review and others at Eyes and Books!
Great collection of "different" short stories.
Great collection of "different" short stories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.