Genre Fiction
![Laura van den Berg - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B0032UNO6C.jpg)
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears
Editorial Reviews
One of Entertainment Weekly's 50 Most Anticipated Books of 2020 and 30 Hottest Summer Reads, one of O, the Oprah Magazine's 30 Most Anticipated Books of 2020, one of BuzzFeed's Most Anticipated Books of 2020 and 29 Summer Books You Won't Be Able to Put Down, one of Esquire's 20 Must-Read Books of Summer 2020, one of the BBC's Ten Books to Read in 2020, one of TIME's 12 New Books to Read in July one of ELLE's 30 Most Anticipated New Books of Summer 2020, one of Refinery29's 25 Books You'll Want to Read This Summer, one of Time's 45 New Books You Need to Read This Summer, one of Thrillist's 21 Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2020, one of Bustle's Most Anticipated Books of July 2020, one of LitHub's 2020 Summer Books, and one of The Millions Most Anticipated Books of the First Half of 2020
"The terrain of Van den Berg's difficult, beautiful and urgent new book, I Hold a Wolf by the Ears, is an ecosystem of weird and stirring places you'll want to revisit, reconsider, maybe even take shelter in . . . Van den Berg feels like the writer we not only want but maybe need right now . . . Van den Berg is so consistently smart and kind, bracingly honest, keen about mental illness and crushing about everything from aging to evil that you might not be deluded in hoping that the usual order of literary fame could be reversed: that an author with respectable acclaim for her novels might earn wider recognition for a sneakily brilliant collection of stories." --Nathan Deuel, Los Angeles Times
"[A] richness of reading pleasures brims in every one of these 11 tales . . . this book offers the greatest distillation of [van den Berg's] talents to date. To pick a best story is beyond me . . . Eye-popping description, however, is far from the only form of liveliness in these narratives. The recurring drama is that of identity lost, reinvented or both." --John Domini, The Washington Post
"Exquisite. It took a decade of writing book reviews to get here, but here we are ― I've used "exquisite." The stories in Laura van den Berg's I Hold a Wolf by the Ears are exquisite . . . unsettling and bizarre, coming at you from weird angles to hit you in unexpected ways like the well-trained fists of a professional boxer." --Gabino Iglesias, NPR
"A series of melancholy meditations on death, grief and travel . . . All of the work has a dangerous, eerie charge . . . This is one of van den Berg's strengths: The mundane becomes swiftly, surprisingly, sinister." --Jackie Thomas-Kennedy, Minneapolis StarTribune
"A collection of dreamlike tales of womanhood that speak, however strangely, to the dark realities of modern life." --Entertainment Weekly<...
"The terrain of Van den Berg's difficult, beautiful and urgent new book, I Hold a Wolf by the Ears, is an ecosystem of weird and stirring places you'll want to revisit, reconsider, maybe even take shelter in . . . Van den Berg feels like the writer we not only want but maybe need right now . . . Van den Berg is so consistently smart and kind, bracingly honest, keen about mental illness and crushing about everything from aging to evil that you might not be deluded in hoping that the usual order of literary fame could be reversed: that an author with respectable acclaim for her novels might earn wider recognition for a sneakily brilliant collection of stories." --Nathan Deuel, Los Angeles Times
"[A] richness of reading pleasures brims in every one of these 11 tales . . . this book offers the greatest distillation of [van den Berg's] talents to date. To pick a best story is beyond me . . . Eye-popping description, however, is far from the only form of liveliness in these narratives. The recurring drama is that of identity lost, reinvented or both." --John Domini, The Washington Post
"Exquisite. It took a decade of writing book reviews to get here, but here we are ― I've used "exquisite." The stories in Laura van den Berg's I Hold a Wolf by the Ears are exquisite . . . unsettling and bizarre, coming at you from weird angles to hit you in unexpected ways like the well-trained fists of a professional boxer." --Gabino Iglesias, NPR
"A series of melancholy meditations on death, grief and travel . . . All of the work has a dangerous, eerie charge . . . This is one of van den Berg's strengths: The mundane becomes swiftly, surprisingly, sinister." --Jackie Thomas-Kennedy, Minneapolis StarTribune
"A collection of dreamlike tales of womanhood that speak, however strangely, to the dark realities of modern life." --Entertainment Weekly<...
Readers Top Reviews
Stephen T. Hopkins
I restricted myself to one story per day while I read the collection of eleven short stories by Laura van den Berg titled, I Hold a Wolf by the Ears. I often took a walk after finishing the story of the day, and found myself often agitated, or somewhat unhinged like many of the characters in this collection. Walking off the story cleared my brain. Van den Berg strips away everything from these characters except close examination of their fears. After we see these fears, and feel some part of the pain of suffering, something changes and we observe what’s beautiful and see life transformed. There’s no easy way out of tough stuff for any of us. With van den Berg as a guide, we somehow get through the tough part and come out with strength ready for another day. Rating: Four-star (I like it)
Celia Phillips
"Auribus teneo lupum". Latin for "I hold a wolf by the ears". To be in a difficult situation from which it is as dangerous to extricate oneself as it is to remain in it. I'm afraid we're holding a wolf by the ears regarding our current healthcare system. Another way to look at it is "a dilemma that has no easy way out". Eleven short stories. All describe dilemmas for which there is no easy way out. Wonderful in terms of style, content and travelling opportunities. Oh yes, some historical tidbits thrown in for good measure. I especially enjoyed the VERY unusual occupations described in some of the stories. The travelling to Italy, Mexico and mentions of Florida were also all to my liking. If you are a short story lover, you will love these. And if you are not, maybe, by reading these, you will become a convert. 5 stars
Glenn Pape
I'm not often a fan of stories that feel open-ended, that close "on an inhale." But when she uses that technique she somehow pulls it off beautifully.
Arielle F.
I thought this book would be too scary from the sounds of other reviews. But it wasn’t! It was perfect. Eloquent and meaningful, with beautiful imagery and emotion. Truly unique. I’m thankful I read this beautiful piece of literature.
Jeff LeVineLAKSaintm
This is a good collection of slightly vague and mysterious stories. Similar themes run through many of the tales, people disappearing, brothers and sisters, marriages that are difficult or falling apart or over, people trapped in the gig economy. The one story that really stands out is Volcano House, which mixes memories of a vacation to Iceland, with events one year later when one of the sisters on the trip is left in coma after a mass shooting. It’s definitely the most emotionally involving story in the collection, but again, the vague ending holds it back a bit. Often this stories seem to deflect away from their painful centers. In that sense, they’re often slightly dissatisfying. There’s also a bit of a feeling like, yes, these are well written stories, but, they often feel like stories I’ve read many times before. Maybe there’s not enough here to make the collection rise above just being good?
