Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry

by Elizabeth McCracken, Elizabeth McCraken, Elizabeth McCra

Book Overview

Elizabeth McCracken's first novel, THE GIANT'S HOUSE--a finalist for the 1996 National Book Award--was widely praised for its heart, its humor, and its poetic yet unsentimental voice. Like her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380730790
• ISBN13: 9780380730797
• Release Date: January 1900
• Publisher: Harpperen
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Elizabeth McCracken is an amazing writer.

Each story is a world in itself...all unique and intricate. I was drawn in to each story so perfectly by Elizabeth. I almost thought these were nonfiction. When I finished the book, I wanted so much more from her. Later I found The Giant's House, and I still want more! She is just so personable and communicates well in her writing. I randomly bought Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett, which is amazing. I love both Patchett's and McCracken's writing style. I read a book about american women authors, which consisted of interviews. It turns out that Ann and Elizabeth were friends and they met at a writers' colony. So if you get a chance, check out Ann's books too!

Absolutely beautiful!

I was in the mood for short stories this time around and I picked up Elizabeth McCracken's Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry because the premise seemed interesting. I love dark, surrealistic short stories and I couldn't wait to give this a whirl. This collection is so much more than I had expected! The prose is absolutely gorgeous and I was enthralled and riveted by her words and oddball situations from beginning to end. Some stories haunted me and others touched me with their poignancy. There are no words to describe this collection. The stories that I loved the most were "It's Bad Luck to Die," "The Bar of Our Recent Unhappiness," "Some Have Entertained Angels, Unaware," and "What We Know About the Lost Aztec Children." The aforementioned stories captivated me and I read most of them more than once. Are you in the bargain for a surreal and poignant short fiction collection? I suggest you give McCracken's Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry a whirl. You won't regret it! I will definitely read more stuff by Elizabeth McCracken.

My new favorite author?

I picked this book up on a whim. I'd never heard of McCracken, but I liked the title. What a wonderful surprise! I read a lot of short story collections, but I have to admit that I usually approach them with a sense of duty, not anticipation. (For me, reading short stories is like eating broccoli; I do it because I think I ought to, not because it's fun). But "Here's Your Hat.." is a joyous exception. THis collection is as readable and compelling as the best of novels.McCracken's writing is beautiful --artistic but understated-- and her stories are like nothing else I've read. Funny and tragic at the same time. She has a taste for the bizarre; her characters range from the slightly odd to the downright freakish, but she somehow maintains complete believability. In general, I am turned off by "endearingly quirky" characters because they usually seem so contrived (think of that movie, "Benny and Joon" and you'll know what I mean). But McCracken is such a talented writer that she can make you feel a powerful affinity with even the most outlandish person.I especially enjoyed "It's Bad Luck to Die", and the title story (both these pieces have final lines that will take your breath away) but all the stories in this book are excellent.In short, if you don't read this collection, you're missing out. And if McCracken's two novels turn out to be as good as her short stories, I think I may have a new favorite author.

I'll read any and every word this woman writes

I love Elizabeth McCracken. When I read this line in "Some Have Entertained Angels Unaware," I knew that I would follow its writer anywhere she wanted to take me: "Dad was thin then - maybe still is - and as chinless and gloomy as a clarinet." McCracken is a wonder, with characters, with language, and with the twisting roads of a story. I can feel only grateful that she is a writer and that we get to read what she puts on the page.

A New Star

McCracken is a writer destined to explode in popularity sometime soon. She's the real thing, a writer to the bone, with a voice that invades your sleep and characters who become more real than the people in your own house. At her best delineating the interior life of children and eccentrics, McCracken's stories have a timeless quality - you'd never mistake them as part of some ephemeral trend. She writes beautifully but invisibly, a rare talent these days. Every story in this collection is a polished gem, but "June" and "Here's Your Hat..." are signature pieces (and you'll not soon forget the latter's final line). I've given The Giant's House as a gift more than once and found it was passed on down the line, reader to reader, new fan to new fan. McCracken was one of Granta's picks for the best new young American writers. She shines above the majority of the other picks. Buy the book. Read the stories at breakfast and before bed. Then, when Oprah is singing her praises, you can say, "I knew about her way back when."