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Download Do the Windows Open? epub book
ISBN:0140271457
Julie Hecht Humor English
Author: Julie Hecht
ISBN13: 978-0140271454
Title: Do the Windows Open?
Format: doc txt mobi lit
ePUB size: 1972 kb
FB2 size: 1420 kb
DJVU size: 1960 kb
Language: English
Category: Humor
Publisher: Penguin Books (February 1, 1998)
Pages: 224

Do the Windows Open? by Julie Hecht



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Julie Hecht's book, somewhere between novel and connected short stories focuses on the neurotic life of a macrobiotic vegetarian, fixated on seeming trivialities and projects with no purpose, whose deep unhappiness is cleverly disguised from the reader and herself. It was hard to get into at first, as it is rife with what are often disparaged as "first world problems" and seeing the world through her eyes is rather unpleasant. Do the Windows Open? It's been awhile since I wholeheartedly laughed out loud while reading a book. Although the story was simple with no real plot other than everyday living, I enjoyed Hecht's observations and insights of the different personalities and situations she encounters. I felt I would be be thinking the same things or wondering why people do or say the things they do.

FREE shipping on qualifying offers. The beguiling and alienated narrator-who finds nearly everything interesting and almost nothing clear-has set herself the never-ending goal of photographing a world-renowned reproductive surgeon.

Do the windows open? Stories. Hecht debuts with stories woven from seemingly uneventful threads of life that are made as funny, compelling, and rewarding as a reader ever could wish. The nine pieces' narrator is in her early 40s, married, childless, a sometime resident of New York City now living in East Hampton and summering in Nantucket. If you love this movie, you should read that book (10 reading recommendations based on best picture winners): Nonfiction. People who eat darkness. by Richard Lloyd Parry. Do the windows open? by Julie Hecht.

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Do the Windows Open? is a smashing debut by short-story writer Julie Hecht. Bound together by the insight and wit of her neurotic narrator, Hecht's short stories document the mania of the modern day in devastating detail. Hecht's narrator, a forty-something photographer, moves through the world burdened by the mundane and tawdry incidentals of contemporary existence.

Personal Name: Hecht, Julie. Perfect vision Do the windows open? A lovely day That's no fun Were the ornaments lovely? The thrill is gone I couldn't see a thing The world of ideas Who knows why. Download Do the windows open Julie Hecht leave here couple of words about this book: Tags

Do the Windows Open? is a 1997 short story collection and the first published book by American author Julie Hecht. The book was first published in hardback on January 21, 1997 through Random House and a paperback version was released the following year by Penguin Books. The collection comprises nine short stories, each of which are narrated by Isabelle, a freelance photographer.

A Unique Sensibility Under Siege.

Do the Windows Open? is a series of hilarious linked tales documenting the mania of the modern day in devastating detail-tales that have had readers of The New Yorker laughing out loud for years.

The beguiling and alienated narrator-who finds nearly everything interesting and almost nothing clear-has set herself the never-ending goal of photographing a world-renowned reproductive surgeon, Walden Pond, the ponds of Nantucket, and all the houses Anne Sexton ever lived in.

On the way, she searches for organically grown vegetables, windows that open, and an endodontist who acts like a normal person. She sometimes compares herself unfavorably to Jacqueline Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and Princess Diana.

What emerges is a unique sensibility under siege. This is a remarkably original literary performance, one that speaks to anyone looking for the refuge laughter offers from life in an absurd world.

Reviews: 7
Envias
In a world of the banal, the vulgar, the repellent, Julie Hecht glows with a true light. Her writing is both simple and complex. Her stories are of a wandering soul, a person trapped in solitude while speaking to many neighbors and acquaintances. All her conversations, as her cypher of a husband comments, are "futile, aimless". With no one has she the slightest communication beyond the trivial. Her attempts at communication invariably bounce right off those around her, like a bead of oil on water. Julie Hecht is incredibly funny, as in the opening title story, but she is also deep and subtle. Her story about a dinner at friends, featuring an unbearably smug Swedish wife with 4 small boys, is really about the narrator's sad alienation because she is childless. Yet nowhere is this spoken. The reader must infer it from quiet moments. The angst-filled, anxiety-plagued narrator seems so like me, filled with worries that to her are real, looming possibilities rather than far-fetched scenarios, that although she would be horrified by my carnivorous eating habits and yogaphobic lifestyle, I nonetheless am presumptuous enough to feel we would be instant soulmates. Her final story, "Who Knows Why", which seems to be about the renovation of a floor, is really a melancholy reflection on the frustration of effort. Why bother? it seems to ask. Yet nowhere is this book of stories depressing. It is uplifting, it is spiritual, it is - well, brilliant. You probably won't like it, but since its Amazon sales rank is 400,000-something and it can be bought used for .01 cent, you are probably in the majority. I, though, have found my literary soulmate.
MrDog
Ms Hecht's writing is absolutely delightful. It's completely different from anyone else I've read. She pokes gentle fun at herself, as well as everyone she meets. I can't help smiling and laughing out loud every few pages. She is a real treasure.
Charyoll
Oddly, wonderfully nourishing. Hecht is a brilliant humorist and observer of the everyday as she navigates life with mindful angst and elusive purpose. A quiet heartbreaker.
Lbe
Not great writing on my opinion
Vuzahn
I bought this book based on the title story which I had previously read in The New Yorker Magazine's anthology of New York stories. The title story is really good but, overall, the book is a "2". Do the Windows Open? was a light-hearted, amusing and imaginative read; one could easily imagine having panic attacks while riding on a bus from Manhattan to the Hamptons with a load of strangers. To pass time during the long trip via the Long Island Espressway, (scary in itself), Hecht assigns imaginary personalities and lifestories to fellow passengers. The attendant feelings of being trapped with an assorted busload of strangers is where the author's creativity shines. In fact, it is laugh out loud funny. I wish Hecht could have continued along this path. However, the rest of the book goes from engagingly quirky to whiny...

Hecht writes archly about her macrobiotic lifestyle and makes judgmental observations about everyone who doesn't share her addiction to twig tea and brown rice. It's hard to feel the pain of a privileged, super neurotic wife of a university dean of architecture. The author hasn't much to do except take exercise classes, have expensive sunglasses reproduced in Germany, or bear the torment of the summer heat as she wilts in Manhattan, East Hampton or Nantucket, while fitfully photographing flowers and doctors. Why does she bother to see a reproductive specialist when the reader never gets a hint that Hecht even likes children? That is a question only her therapist can answer.
Ustamya
I am always hesitant to recommend fiction to other people because enjoyment of fiction is so subjective and so personal. I feel so strongly about the stories of Julie Hecht, though, that I had to write this review. When I see an issue of "The New Yorker" that has a new Hecht story it just makes my whole week. It is hard to define her style but perhaps calling her the Steven Wright of short story writers would give you some idea! She makes the most oddball but humorous (in a bittersweet way) observations using a deadpan delivery. Her narrator, always the same person in all stories, is alienated and lonely and neurotic but touching and engaging because of her humor and intelligence. Hecht's stories have no grand themes and contain no momentous events. She writes of the mundane daily activities of her protagonist: going to the health food store; riding on a bus; a visit to the doctor. The activities are not important; it is Hecht's observations of other people that will resonate within you. If you enjoy lowkey writing which is concerned with the behavior of everyday people I think you will enjoy these stories as much as I did. I can't wait for Ms. Hecht's next collection of stories. Unfortunately, I think it will be awhile as her stories come out very infrequently!
Abuseyourdna
I always look forward to a Julie Hecht story in the New Yorker magazine, and I really wanted to like -- no, love! -- "Do the Windows Open?" Unfortunately, there just isn't much substance to a book full of Ms. Hecht's musings (it's a definite "stretch" to classify what she comes up with as stories since there's no plot, no character development, no climaxes or denouement, nothing much at all as a matter of fact). She is certainly a clever writer, and she comes up with thoughts and images that are downright hilarious on occasion. I literally laughed out loud while reading "Do the Windows Open?" But it's pretty much a case of what you see is what you get -- there's no depth, just sort of a "stream of consciousness" skewed look at the world through the eyes of an upperclass, New York literary type. I fervently and sincerely hope Julie Hecht will put her estimable comic writing talent to better use in the future: She could be a master of the comic novel. For now, however, I think I'll stick to her occasional New Yorker story -- that's really quite enough.
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