The Dark Dark

Stories

By: Samantha Hunt

Narrated by: Christa Lewis

In these marvelously inventive stories, Samantha Hunt imagines numerous ways in which human lives might be altered by the otherworldly: an FBI agent falls in love with a robot built for a suicide mission; a young woman unintentionally cheats on her husband when she is transformed into a deer; two strangers become lovers and find themselves responsible for the resurrection of a dog; a woman tries to start her life anew after the loss of a child but riddles that new life with lies; 13 pregnant teenagers develop a strange relationship with the founding fathers of American history; a lonely woman's fertility treatments become the stuff of science fiction. With offbeat humor and an unguarded gaze, Hunt conjures stories that urge an understanding of youth and mortality, magnification and loss - and that hold out hope that we can come to know one another deeply as we stand side-by-side observing this mysterious universe we've found ourselves in.

©2017 Samantha Hunt (P)2017 Dreamworks Media, LLC

A Total Trip

When you first read about The Dark Dark the inventive concepts draw you in. A woman who cheats on her husband after she turns into a deer? Sounds funky. You think to yourself, and that's what gets you in the door. All of these stories are so inventive and radically interesting that it is really hard not to at least give this book a shot.

What keeps you listening is Hunt's incredible sense of aesthetic. In many ways, as weird as these stories are, they are all about the same thing. A woman struggling with her many internal identities, motherhood, womanhood, and wrestling with herself and her relationships in general. That's I think the the emotion of this book, and it hits you on a real level.

Even though each story has different characters, different situations, they all seem to magically tie together. And though at times Hunt toys with magical realism, which is a dangerous thing to toy with, her thoughts never dive too far into the absurd as to loose their relevance in the real world of human thought.

Weird But Good

I throughly enjoyed this audiobook but, I can’t pinpoint exactly why. Most of the stories are hazy. They are glimpses of whole stories that can’t or shouldn’t be completely told. I liked most of them especially the first story that finishes last. Each offers a very unique perspective and the author does such an excellent job creating multidimensional characters with abstract thoughts that you can’t help but continue to listen.

I have so much to think about…

I’m still discovering my interests in reads, but after hearing a few recommendations on some of the stories, I tried this book and I am amazed in the storytelling that Hunt achieves. Stories about the woman’s experience, the perverse, and some well planned confusion thrown in there left me thinking about a LOT. I’m thrilled with these stories. I love how it came together.

Don't waste your time

No actual stories or plots, nothing with a beginning, a middle and an end - more like, at most, a series of scenes or tableaux. Very unsatisfying.