Rebecca Curtis

Not as scary as I thought it would be. I related to the character in regards to her parents. They were tough.

My father always told me that if I accepted any assistance from him after he’d paid for college I’d be a loser. Same.

Paul was a piece of garbage before he moved into the apartment and after. I also wonder if the woman and her sister saw other ghosts, or maybe I am overthinking it. Engaging story but not horror at all. The author's writing keeps you hooked. I want to check out her other work.
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Like many first short story collections, Rebecca Curtis’ Twenty Grand explores a variety of styles and themes — signs of a young writer searching for her unique voice perhaps. What makes this collection special is that Curtis writes so well no matter which direction she turns. She offers heightened realism in “Summer, with Twins” or “The Alpine Slide”, stories that are told from the perspective of a quirky young woman protagonist. Our sympathies engage, but there is also something slightly askew. In other stories, such as “The Wolf at the Door” or “Monsters”, Curtis dips into George Saunders’ surrealist territory. Still others, like “Knick, Knack, Paddywhack” or “Solicitation” or even “To the Interstate” have the feel of more experimental McSweeney’s-type pieces. But perhaps the best stories combine aspects of each of these modes through which Curtis arrives at a kind of heightened surrealism — stories that on the surface seem straightforwardly realist but keep pitching over toward whatever horrors lie off the even keel. Here, the title story, “Twenty Grand”, and “Big Bear, California”, and also “The Witches” set the mark.

Since I’ve mentioned almost every story in the collection, it will come as no surprise that I think Rebecca Curtis is a young writer worth watching. There is so much potential here. And for that alone I would gladly recommend this collection. The edition I had also included a P.S. section at the end, which is not untypical these days. There I was expecting to find an interview or something further about the author. Curtis has taken this section and turned it to good effect by using those twenty pages to pick out favourite places, businesses, and activities in her home state of New Hampshire, possibly to redress some of the seedier views she presents in her stories, many of which are set in New Hampshire locales. Sounds like a straightforward project, but here it is just as curious and heightened and slightly askew as the rest of the writing, so don’t skip the P.S. I’m already looking forward to whatever else Curtis will eventually publish.… (más)

Rebecca Curtis shows her literary dexterity in this collection of quick reading stories. Some of the stories are realistic enough to be believed, and others are so weird its like having a looking-glass into somebody's dreams...or nightmares. This collection takes you all over the emotional spectrum, and through a pile of genres, as well. What is more impressive than the variety is that regardless of the style or voice the quality of the writing remains consistently good. Its one thing to be able to write well in one voice, but quite another to write well in five or more!!!!… (más)