When the Nines Roll Over: And Other Stories

A collection of eight stories! Each story is unique and the writing is very, very modern. Throughout the book, he mentions things like Sam's Club, Pearl Jam, etc., and many other places/things that actually exist! No one story in the book is overly long or drawn out, each one seems to be the perfect length to explain the story completely. "When the Nines Roll Over: And Other Stories" is one not to miss if your a fan of Benioff and/or witty short stories! The writing is excellent, very vivid descriptions and characters. Unfortunately this book is out of print, but it is very easy to find elsewhere online. The eight short stories are: (brief descriptions without giving anything away) When the Nines Roll Over~ (the story of a punk band's lead singer and her boyfriend and a business savy talent scout that wants to sign them) 4 out of 5 stars! The Devil Comes to Orekhovo~ (the story of three Russian soldiers, sent out to occupy a supposed empty house in enemy territory) 5 out of 5 stars! Zoanthrophy~ (the story of a lion hunter in New York City, his son and the worlds greatest lover) 4 out of 5 stars! The Barefoot Girl in Clover~ (my personal favorite, the story of a high school football star who steals a car and sets out for California, but only makes it to Pennslyvannia and meets a girl he will never forget) 5 out of 5 stars! De Composition~ (the story of a man who makes an elaborate bomb shelter in his backyard, he thinks the world is coming to an end and locks himself inside) 3 out of 5 stars! Garden of No~ (the story of an aspiring actress who is about to get her big break) 5 out of 5 stars! Neversink~ (funny story about a man who meets a girl that talks endlessly about her amazing deceased father, who she happens to have cremated and keeps his ashes in her apartment) 5 out of 5 stars! Merde for Luck~ (the story of a man who has a very awkward bathroom accident while aboard a plane, he flashes back and tells the story of how he got to this point in life) 5 out of stars! ***** Author David Benioff is married to actress Amanda Peet(Martian Child, Griffin & Phoenix, The Whole Ten Yards, A Lot Like Love, Saving Silverman), his first book, "The 25th Hour" was a huge success and was turned into a movie with Ed Norton! His new book "City of Thieves" has gotten great reviews and is on my list to read soon!

I first read Benioff a few years ago in "All-Story" magazine, where three of the stories in this book first appeared (they are actually available online at All Story's site for those interested in sampling his writing). I then read and loved his novel "The 25th Hour", and so am glad to get my hands on this collection of eight stories. There aren't that many young American writers whose work excites me, but Benioff is certainly one of them (Mark Jude Poirier and John McNally are two others). His prose is clear and crisp, without the affectation or self-consciousness one finds in so much coming out these days. The stories collected here show a nice range of subject matter and tone, ranging from pure realism to slight surrealism, but almost all contain threads of loss, disappointment, and forlorn hope. Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay to the stories, is that even though I didn't connect with some of them, I still loved reading them. The opening (and title) story, is one of these, following a record label A & R man (essentially a high-end scout) who pursues a talented punk girl and spirits her away to Los Angeles and out of the life of her drummer boyfriend. It felt a little old-fashioned in a lot of ways. Do record label execs still act like that? Are they really that interested in transforming punk chicks into superstars? But it did nicely capture that moment in relationships when one person has moved on to bigger and presumably better things, and their lover just doesn't fit in the picture any more. Another story, "The Garden of No", is very similar thematically, only here it's a waitress turned television actress, and the man is a short-order cook. Misfiring romance figures prominently in three other stories as well. "Barefoot Girl in Clover" tells of a 30ish man who tries to track down a girl he hung out with for a day as a teenager. "Neversink" is about a New York couple and the aftermath of their breakup. In "Merde For Luck", a gay man recounts his last relationship from beginning to grim end. What's interesting is that in all three of these stories, the narrator is either missing a crucial piece of information or operating under some major misconception. This allows Benioff to set each up for a major fall late in the story, when all is revealed. The lesson seems to be that if women don't betray you, life will find a way to. The three other stories are a little harder to categorize. "The Devil Comes to Orekhovo" is a great story with a very traditional feel to it. It follows three Russian soldiers on patrol in Chechnya as they scout out a house that may or may not contain Chechen separatists. Benioff brilliantly captures the unease and awkwardness of the youngest, rawest soldier, as the older men mock him and eventually put him to a nasty test. It deserves a place with Tolstoy and Lermontov's stories of the Russian experience in the Caucuses. "Zoanthropy" is a strange story about a young man whose father is called in to shoot lions

"This is what you need to know about my father: He was a man who made a living killing animals, though he adored animals and disdained men. But I was his love's son and that gave me immunity from disdain, immunity from the cool hunter's stare he aimed at everyone else. His turn in this world was far from gentle, but he was gentle with me." David Benioff from the short story "Zoanthropy" I'm not a short story fan. Typically, short stories are either touchy-feely poetry fiascos that lack depth or they are compact verbiage crammed debacles that are too abrupt to allow proper character and plot development. Ironically, one of my favorite short story writers is Stephen King because he can scare the crap out of you in relatively short order. However, King doesn't count, because he considers 200 pages epigrammatic. Nevertheless, I actually stumbled upon an amazing work of short stories by the author of "The 25th Hour". The book is entitled "When the Nines Roll Over & Other Stories" by David Benioff. Each of the eight stories was a unique gem waiting to be discovered under some fertile yet shallow soil. I was able to read one complete novella during each of the study hall sessions I monitored during my 16th year of teaching at Susquehanna Township High School. Each tale left me invigorated and filled me with the gusto necessary to take on the challenges of the rest of my teaching schedule. I'm already worried about what I will do next week without the magical digressions each story provided me. Although I enjoyed all eight of Benioff's short stories, four of them held a special place in my heart. "The Devil Comes to Orekhovo" was the most haunting tale in the lot. It began with two twenty-something veteran Russian soldiers (Nikolai and Surkhov) and an eighteen-year-old newbie named Leksi. The three men were scouting the Chechen countryside for enemy guerrillas. Since the Chechen terrorists were rumored to crucify unfortunate Russian soldiers and even place their severed heads on the doorsteps of their families' houses, the mission transformed Leksi's mental state into total disarray. Eventually the three men broke into a house to establish a headquarters of sorts only to stumble upon the residence's elderly female inhabitant. A cunning game of cat and mouse ensued, and the powerful story walloped its readers with one hell of a character piece and one amazingly assembled narrative. My second favorite tale was entitled "The Barefoot Girl in Clover". Although fairly simple and contrite, this story involved a teenager's unplanned escape from his small New Jersey town via a stolen 1955 Eldorado. However, instead of running all the way to California as he initially envisioned, the young athlete only managed to make it to Hershey Park, Pennsylvania. While near Hershey, the car thief encountered a unique girl and fell head over heals in love. The one day romantic affair blossomed into a life altering experience with a wham-bam-smack i

Some of the short stories in this collection made me laugh out loud -- others (particularly "The Devil Comes to Orekhovo") made me shiver. I thought this was a wonderful collection of stories and, ordinarily, I am not a huge fan of the genre -- I happened to pick this book up because I had rented "The 25th Hour" last weekend and enjoyed it. I TOTALLY disagree with others who characterized this as a "MALE" book: I am a 32 year old female and really loved it. "The Barefoot Girl in Clover" was very moving and made me remember my high school days. And "Zoanthropy" (my personal favorite) was offbeat, but really, really wonderful. This is a book that both men AND women will love. I've already lent my copy to a friend!

At a time when the shelves are FILLED with wonderful and interesting books about contemporary life from a female perspective, at long last there is a book that does the same thing for guys. I found this as I was desperately looking for something to read on a long plane ride, and it was fantastic. Funny, and insightful. Some of the same themes and sensibility as Palahniuk's FIGHT CLUB, but much more relevant to "every day" life: if you liked FIGHT CLUB, you'll love this even more! Are the characters exotic and off beat? Yes, and that makes it more fun. What makes it captivating is that what these characters go through is something any one -- and particularly, any guy -- can relate to, at least to some extent. This book will make you laugh and it will make you think: what more can you ask for! You will not regret this purchase!!!!!