Lost Lake: Stories

Not much to add to the reviews below, aside from the fact that I agree with them completely. Slouka's writing approaches poetry in its effect. Beautiful.

Mr. Slouka is a fine writer. His words are beautifully strung together, his vision of the world elevates the mundane into poetry. For this reader, such writing is much like a fancy cake or bonbon ~ the gorgeous product of excellent talent and grand effort. Best read in small, savored bits. Recommended.

This book brought me more reading enjoyment than any I have read in a number of years. Slouka has a talent which only some short story writers possess--the ability to pull you into the narrative with the first sentence or two. The character insights are first-rate and each story is a polished jewel.A great read!

This collection of essays and short stories is poignant. My eyes frequently teared over. It is rare, I think, to find lovely, melancholy tales that question love and sense of place and are written in a male voice from a male perspective. "Lost Lake", due to the finely crafted writing and the emotional chords it struck, has now been placed in a section of a bookcase where I safely guard two dozen books that are very important to me. Highly recommended for all readers, but particularly for men who see the world with a sensitive perspective, and who search to provide themselves with an emotional sense of time and place.

I was disappointed at first to see that these stories are loosely bound to a 'theme': one locale ("forty acres of water") one family (started in Czechoslavakia, emigrated to NY), and some ... fishing. I needn't have worried, because there is a world of experience and observation in these, along with masterful, thrifty use of language, attention to detail - and much love, yearning, and compassion. The voice is constant and consistent; the stories are told meticulously and with great clarity. "The Woodcarver's Tale," centered on the narrator's father, is heartbreaking. In "Equinox" Slouka combines the mundane and the tragic - seamlessly. A very satisfying collection of stories.