“Extraordinary for its craft and emotional effect . . . [Ethan Canin is] a writer of enormous talent and charm.”
–The Washington Post

“Character is destiny,” wrote Heraclitus–and in this collection of four unforgettable stories, we meet people struggling to understand themselves and the unexpected turns their lives have taken. In “Accountant,” a quintessential company man becomes obsessed with the phenomenal success of a reckless childhood friend. “Batorsag and Szerelem” tells the story of a boy’s fascination with the mysterious life and invented language of his brother, a math prodigy. In “City of Broken Hearts,” a divorced father tries to fathom the patterns of modern relationships. And in “The Palace Thief,” a history teacher at an exclusive boarding school reflects on the vicissitudes of a lifetime connection with a student scoundrel. A remarkable achievement by one of America’s finest writers, this brilliant volume reveals the moments of insight that illuminate everyday lives.

“Captivating . . . a heartening tribute to the form . . . an exquisite performance.”
–The Boston Sunday Globe

“A model of wit, wisdom, and empathy. Chekhov would have appreciated its frank renderings and quirky ironies.”
–Chicago Tribune

Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Comment: Great collection of stories that deals with the pitfalls of everyday decisions. The character developments are exquisite, which is what keeps the stories so alive.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Each Story Deserves a Rating
Comment: It's not easy to assign one rating to this book. It's not a novel--it's a compilation for four stories, each about 50 pages in length. The stories vary in quality and deserve to be looked at independently, though there are some common themes. For one, all of Canin's narrators are male. Second, baseball is mentioned more than once. Finally, all his characters seem to be supremely flawed, which I guess is the author's attempts at making them more realistic, but the characters never actually seem real. In three of the stories the narrators seem to suffer from the same flaw--they're arrogant and stupid. They get themselves into the type of predicaments you expect from network sit-coms. It left me wondering if the author is giving us insight to his own personality, or if this is just how a doctor who attended Harvard views the rest of us.

The four stories included are:

The Accountant (2 stars): The story is narrated by the titular accountant. Two childhood friends grow apart when one chooses college and the other goes directly into the workforce. The story is about the mistakes the accountant has made in life and the smug attitude that prevents him from realizing his missteps.

Batorsag and Szerelem (2 stars): This one is a coming-of-age tale narrated by a boy whose eccentric brother is extremely good at math. The older brother is also hiding something from his family. This story had a ton of potential, but I just felt like it wasn't executed well at all. It jumps around a lot and there's not enough character development. I believe there was enough story here for a novel; the author just didn't take the time.

City of Broken Hearts (4 stars): This one is a well-written, somewhat tragic story about a man in his sixties who is recently divorced and having trouble adapting to single life as well as relating to women and his son, who is attending college on the other side of the country. When the son visits his father in Boston, the two go to a ball game together, since baseball is the old man's passion. The father in this story is a sympathetic character. It's easy to understand his confusion and frustration. His baseball team lets him down, his wife has left him for another man, and his son is arrogant and so interested in proving he's a modern, sympathetic man that he doesn't take time to let his father remain part of his life.

The Palace Thief (5 stars): The best story in the bunch. A young teacher at a prestigious prep school feels some sympathy for a troubled student, which leads to him making some errors in judgement. The story revolves around their teacher-student relationship, as well as their relationship 40 years later. All of the stories in the book are compelling, but this one is the best. The main character is still flawed, arrogant, and perhaps stupid in his choices, but this novel offers the best character study and it's easily the stand out of the bunch.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Only one gem in the palace
Comment: This book contains 4 short stories that are good, but not terribly memorable (even though the back cover calls them "unforgetable"). I read this book only a couple of weeks ago and can only remember one of the stories very well: The Palace Thief.

The Palace Thief has nothing to do with a palace or a conventional thief. It was also used as the basis of the movie, The Emperor's Club. The story has the same feel as Dead Poet's Society with a professor that gets his students to dress in togas as they study Greek history and literature. The story is good but, in my opinion, the only true gem in the palace of this book.

Ethan Canin likes to infuse his stories with baseball and other diversions enjoyed by men. I suppose these are the types of things he himself enjoys when he's not writing books or working as a doctor.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: not bad, but not great either
Comment: I grow so weary of reviewers touting the hackneyed line, "unforgettable characters". Please! The characters in this collection inspire a certain curiosity but are hardly "unforgettable". The story "The Palace Thief" would have been much more enjoyable had I not read the quintessential teacher/student story which is "Of This Time, Of That Place" by Lionel Trilling - hands down the best short story I've ever read. I wonder if Ethan Canin has read this because there is a similiarity. But where Trilling's story is a classic, Canin's is merely average.
Also, the first-person narratives in two of the stories (the first & last) sound like the same person - both are pedantic, somewhat pompous, and long-winded.
I'm beginning to worry that the reading public has become immune to terrible writing, which is why when someone like Canin comes along, there's an overflow of enthusiasm which is just not warranted. These are good little stories, but all are easily forgettable. This is easy-reading, and the neither the stories nor the writing, are particularly memorable.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointment! Why is this author so loved? OVER-RATED!
Comment: I went out to buy this set of stories after seeing the wonderful movie THE EMPEROR'S CLUB and remembered the story "The Palace Thief" was the story that movie was based upon. In the past, I have read books after seeing movies and found the movie much more enjoyable than the films they are based on UNTIL NOW. The short story was definitely worse than the movie that developed the beloved high school teacher, making the character much more interesting than the man described by the author. SO DISAPOINTING!

Why is everyone (except me) so crazy about Ethan Canin? I found it strange that a medical doctor would have time to be writing books in the first place. Now, I wonder if his medical knowledge is as limited as his writing abilities? Sure, the story about the father and son who share a love for baseball (sort of) but nothing else has intriguing moments, but to say that Canin is one of the country's best writers scares me. I know why I still read books written fifty years ago- the writing was much better.

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