The Country of Marriage: Stories

I have never read a short story that's any better than "The Films of Richard Egan".It's a knockout!

There are at most a handful of male writers whose honest portrayals of male psyches ring true, and Giardina is certainly one of them. What's special about these stories is that men reveal their lives with women and children as the measure of themselves. And though the stories revolve around one theme, the voices vary; there is a scarily ruthless loser; a couple of men looking back on adolescence; but best, men talking themselves toward deeper commitment. If I didn't have a wonderful husband, I'd be jealous of this writer's wife!

Just when I thought there was not one man in this world who understood themselves, let alone other men, I stumble onto this book. Giardina writes such truth. His voice hits the mark on every imaginable relationship. It is hard to except such weak, yet successful, crap fiction from say....Nicholas Sparks, when there is an intelligent writer like Giardina, in the wings, waiting to save us all. Read this and recomend the book to your friends who give a damn. You will not be disappointed.

Ever since reading "Days with Cecilia" in Harper's , I have looked for stories by Anthony Giardina everywhere. The Country of Marriage has fulfilled my need for stories that are written as I think - but in an elegant and beautiful country of words. The truth in these stories, written without regard for sniveling needs for ostentations or pretensions, is a fine breath of air after all the smoggy stuff now available. These are stories about the human spirit and ALL relationships and likely to appeal to anyone with sensitivity.

There are only two writers whose work I have read and have truly been amazed that the way they write is the way people think: Grace Paley and Anthony Giardina. He knows the ways men and women act towards one another and makes some of the best art anyone would ever want to read. Plain and simple.