Pure enjoyment, but no joy to be had, as almost every story is bleak like Joshua Tree. Beautiful like the desert, disconsolate like the desert. An artist of the 'nough said, Schutt's backlog is now a new treasure trove for me after these stories.

a lot of gardening, alcoholism, and selfishness. the prose took me a sec to get used to but it’s gorgeous - i borrowed this from my work bc i liked the cover & the ottessa moshfegh blurb, but i was nervous bc a lot of the ratings were so low - but im rly glad i read this! would recommend

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher on Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I should have known when I saw this book was blurbed by [a:Otessa Moshfegh|14555635|Otessa Moshfegh|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] that I wouldn't like this book. I really disliked Moshfegh's short story collection [b:Homesick for Another World|30079724|Homesick for Another World|Ottessa Moshfegh|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469408007s/30079724.jpg|50499751] and they were similar to the stories in this collection, although I don't have the same hatred of Pure Hollywood as I do for Homesick. Mostly I'm just wondering about these collections: what is the point?

Sometimes short story collections have themes that draw all the stories together. I honestly couldn't find one here. Other than the flat out disgusting parts. What is it with contemporary authors feeling it necessary to describe penises and genitals and sexual desire in the ugliest of terms and in the most unnecessary of situations?? The person will be sitting on the sofa and will be like "and then I remembered the first time he showed me that secret, red velvet part of him. he grabbed it and said this was for me and stroked himself between my thighs." and then will go back to having a conversation about pie. Like??? completely unnecessary and just disgusting.

I think I liked maybe one story throughout this whole thing called "The Hedges" but one out of maybe 14 just isn't enough. And most of these are short, barely a page long which makes it really, really hard to connect to a story. It's why most of these short stories failed.

All in all, I felt like this book was rushed to market, because the stories in it were not the best. I also feel like the writing in this was sloppy, because in most stories you could barely tell what was going on. I should have known when the rating was so slow before I began this that it was not going to be a good read. I absolutely cannot recommend Pure Hollywood.

First book I have consumed from this amazing stylist after hearing A couple of her interviews with Michael silverblatt on KCRW’s bookworm. As is often noted, the subject matter or at least the overall Tonality is dark and rough going, and at the end of the collection, one is left with a strange mix of deep satisfaction from the language but equally deep exhaustion from being with these characters who aren’t necessarily occupying the heights of humanity’s greatness at the moments that we meet them.

"....into this just-right night of Los Angeles in....? Let's just say it was May in the first decade of the hardly promising twenty -first century..."

For those of us who love short stories and Literary Fiction, starting a new collection is always a risk. The short stories don't really allow you to truly know a character, to fully connect with the situations depicted. The writing is dense and the underlying themes require the readers' full attention. This is why I love short stories so much and the reason I tend to be quite picky. In this marvellous collection by Christine Schutt, there are characters that open their hearts to us readers, there are themes that concern us on a daily basis, there is poetry and pain. So, it's not an easy read. If you're looking for a collection to spend some quality time, then "Pure Hollywood" is there for you. If you don't feel like investing time and thought, then I'm not sure you'll enjoy it.

I always associate Hollywood with vanity. Vanity and the hypocrisy of appearance and decorum are central in the stories. The characters are trapped by choices that are influenced by the terror of growing old, unwanted and unloved. Families come apart either by their own fault or by Death and the pain feels like heavy shackles. There is no "pure" narrator in those stories. The only thing that is "pure" is the desire to change what cannot be changed.

"At this hour, the road is not much travelled; its residents living far apart and withdrawn into their woods and behind their fences, are abed."

Isolation is almost tangible in these stories. Even the couples are only technically together. In terms of emotion and connection they couldn't be further apart. No one opens heart and soul, no one dares to give voice to feelings. They are isolated from each other and from themselves. However, they speak to the reader, their cry for help, their cry of regret is loud and clear.

"Death: will it be sudden and will we be smiling? Will we know ourselves and the life we have lived?"

This collection has Death as one of its central themes. Physical and emotional death, the loss of a loved one, the loss of innocence, the loss of all meaning. Flowery images and garden sceneries become a metaphor for the need of preservation, the need to have something alive and beautiful that will eventually go to waste because we never open ourselves to anyone.

I don't have much to say about Schutt's writing. In my opinion, it is exquisite in all levels. Poetic, literary, dark, balanced. In a few pages, there are so many themes and questions. The characters are mysterious, each one could very well live inside their own book. There is very little dialogue, but many inner monologues that are almost theatrical in nature. There are traces of Groff, of Watkins and Offill, of Fitzgerald and Woolf.


All the stories of this collection are very, very good, but there are some that really stood out for me:
"Pure Hollywood": A complex relationship between a sister and a brother and the complications of a marriage of convenience.
"The Hedges": A tragic tale about motherhood and the demanding nature of parenthood.
"Species of Special Concern": An elderly gardener in love with his brother's dying wife. There are some beautiful images of life, love and death told through the use of flowers.
"A Happy Rural Seat of Various View: Lucinda's Garden": Striking title, isn't it? There are elements of Fitzgerald in this story. A newly married couple is in charge of a famous garden which becomes a metaphor for their marriage.
"The Duchess of Albany": A recently widowed woman struggles to cope with loss, thinking that drinking and writing poetry are the means to escape.
"Where You Live, When You Need Me": One of the most enigmatic stories about a mysterious, imposing woman who has a deep love for children.
"Burst Ponds, Gone-By, Tangled Aster": A mother who struggles with loss and a son who's good for nothing. A story about acceptance, tolerance and the severe lack of both in today's society.
"Oh, the Obvious": An elderly woman, dissatisfied with her life and her appearance, is on vacation in the countryside. A story that focuses on the merciless passing of Time with underlying sexual themes.
"The Lady From Connecticut" : This story reminded me of Virginia Woolf's "Mrs Dalloway" from the first paragraph.

These short stories are among the best I've read. However, I hesitate to recommend "Pure Hollywood" without reservations because I am aware that some of the themes incorporated in it may seem depressing and disturbing to the most sensitive of readers. But if you desire to invest in poetic, cryptic writing and contemplate on questions that shape our choices and lives, then you should definitely try your luck with this book whose content is as beautiful as its cover.

Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars

Rough going. There's literary and then there's Literary, like almost deliberately opaque. Also, Schutt seems to hate all her characters, which gets a little tiresome.

Pure Hollywood
The story of a 28-year-old actress, Mimi married to a 69-year-old businessman Arnie. Arnie dies of a heart attack and Mimi finds herself in midst of a chaos, created by her own heart. She has difficulty coping up with Arnie’S death. The story also exploits the complicated and almost intimate relationship which she shares with her brother. Mimi tries to revisit her past but faces strange situations which push her further into the darkness.

The Hedges
Dick and Lolly are on a vacation with their two-year-old son. But all is not well. Jonathan stays sick most of the time and Lolly is a terrible mother. She complains about everything and only cares about herself. Dick, on the other hand, tries really hard to be a father and a husband. This is a tragic story written along extremely simple and bland lines. I was surprised by the plot twist and the sudden realization that the situation just went south.

Species of special concern
Nancy cork, a woman passionate about a multitude of things such as the accordion, dogs and her plants-which mean the world to her. Present day scenario-Nancy is bedridden and her husband Cork, tries to take care of plants just like she used to. He is loving, caring and doesn’t want a life without her. But that’s not a choice he can make.

He was ready and however hesitantly he might have added to go back to Boston, he was ready but for the going back itself.The return trip meant driving away in the dark, well before dawn, so as not to see what he was leaving behind in Maine, which was his garden, a pride, a comfort, a habit—an obsession.

A Happy Rural Seat of Various View: Lucinda’s Garden
Nick and Pie are newly married. They are happy together, or at least that’s what they claim until one day Pie is missing and no one has any clue about her whereabouts. A short story about love, loss and a mysterious man.

The Duchess of Albany
Grieving over her dead husband, the protagonist finds it hard to live with her old, pet dog ‘Pink’. she has a constant fear resonating around her, a fear of outliving everyone. Her children, twins, haven’t visited her in years and they call her once in a while, only to ask her to stop living. But ‘Pink’ is her companion now, in sickness and in health and she doesn’t want to lose him, but on some days, she wants him dead.

Family Man
Mass stands by the window of his cottage and revisits the hard days of the past, and compares it with the life he has built for himself, This is more of a passing thought rather than a story.

Where you live, When you need me?
The story of Ella and murdered babies. I have no idea what happened in between.

Burst Pods, Gone-By, Tangled Aster

And that's where I gave up

The most distinct feature of the author’s writing is the bland way she presents her facts. There’s no engagement with the characters. even if you thought you did, the ending is so flat that it’s very difficult to imagine the complex situations and events. This happens with every story in this anthology. The plots are extremely unpredictable and there’s no justification for anything. Each story looks likes they have been abruptly taken out of the respective characters lives.

This particular bunch is so immature, and childish. I love the author’s knack for creating usual plot twists, and I would definitely read something else by the author before passing a verdict on her or her work. But this collection was more of a drunk teenager trying to write. There’s no beginning, and there’s certainly no conclusion to the stories.