Aimee Bender

A volume of tales features characters who pursue connections through love, sex, and family, including a golden-haired girl who appears in an orchard to apple-eating attendants, and a woman who cannot resume normal life after sharing a fantasy with her husband.

Stories

The Color Master

Sarah Sammis

The New York Times bestselling author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, a Richard and Judy bookclub pick, returns with a wonderful collection of enchanting, strange and magical stories. In this collection, Bender's unique talents sparkle brilliantly in stories about people searching for connection through love, sex and family - while navigating the often painful realities of their lives. A woman plays out a prostitution fantasy with her husband in 'The Red Ribbon' and finds she cannot go back to her old sex life. An ugly woman marries an ogre in 'The Devouring' and struggles to decide if she should stay with him after he mistakenly eats their children. 'Tiger Mending' follows two sisters who travel deep into Malaysia where one learns the art of mending tigers who have been ripped to shreds, and in the title story, 'The Color Master', a company of tailors endeavour to capture the colours of the sun, moon and sky. Evocative, funny, sad and beautifully written, The Color Master cements Aimee Bender's reputation as one of the most imaginative and exciting writers of our time.

Erin 

Appleless: 4.5 stars - Only because I think they eat her? Not sure. As someone who regularly does not eat apples, I feel called out. Also fearful. Then again, the descriptions of apples do make me want to eat them. Perhaps that is the point.
The Red Ribbon: 2.5 stars - This is middle-aged white lady porn.
Tiger Mending: 4.5 stars - At this point I realised that listening to short stories is a wholly different experience than reading them. The narrator for this one was very soothing, and I think that enhanced how much I liked this story. I'm not sure I would have loved it as much while just reading it. Either way, very good.
Faces: 4.5 stars - This one was very cool.
On A Saturday Afternoon: 4.5 stars - Please don't judge me
The Fake Nazi: 4 stars
Lemonade: 4 stars
Bad Returns: 5 stars
Origin Lessons: 4.5 stars
The Doctor and the Rabbi: 5 stars
Wordkeepers: 4 stars
The Color Master: 5 stars
A State of Variance: 5 stars
Americca: 4.5 stars
The Devourings: 5 stars.

As you can see, I really enjoyed this one. Not only would I go back and reread the book itself, but I actually think I would listen to the audiobook a second time, which I have never ever done. There was just something about the way Aimee Bender crafts a story that was so whimsical and comforting but in a strange and abnormal way. The stories that stick out for me are Appleless, Tiger Mending, Faces, The Doctor and the Rabbi, and The Devourings. What a good collection. I haven't even averaged out the above individual ratings, because I know with confidence that this was 5 stars.

The Color Master Stories

Reviews