After the Apocalypse

Stories

By: Maureen McHugh

Narrated by: Therese Plummer, Angela Lin

In her new collection, Story Prize finalist Maureen F. McHugh delves into the dark heart of contemporary life and life five minutes from now and how easy it is to mix up one with the other. Her stories are post-bird flu, in the middle of medical trials, wondering if our computers are smarter than us, wondering when our jobs are going to be outsourced overseas, wondering if we are who we say we are, and not sure what we'd do to survive the coming zombie plague.

©2011 Maureen F. McHugh (P)2014 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Hauntingly beautiful."—Booklist, "Unpredictable and poetic work."—The Plain Dealer

for people who see beauty in reset.

really enjoyed it. easy to listen to, and if you're in love with dystopia and games such as fallout and the last of us, this book good be up your alley.

Short story collection

Maureen McHugh’s After the Apocalypse is a collection of short stories, mostly speculative fiction. The collection title is the title of one entry and is not indicative of all the story settings. A few stories end abruptly and likely represent ideas that didn’t quite make their way to a full-length novella or novel. That said the stories are engaging and occasionally thought provoking.

The narration is acceptable with decent character distinction, although in many cases, there may only be a lone character. This is quick listen.

ALTHOUGH THE ODDS ARE GOOD THE GOODS ARE ODD

IT DOES NOT MATTER IF THE CAT IS WHITE OR BLACK, AS LONG AS IT CATCHES THE MICE.
Okay, I guess I am starting to get it? Short stories don't always have to have a plot. Sometimes it is just a study in characters or in situations. I still prefer a start, middle and ending (a plot). Some of these stories including the story the collection is named after have no plot. She woke up, the world had ended, she traveled and saw the destruction, the end.

IN THE KINGDOM OF THE BLIND, THE ONE EYE GIRL IS KING
Having complained about that, let me say I like MM's writing. The first story of hers I read was The Cost To Be Wise. I have read it a couple of times since then. I thought why have I not heard of her before? So I searched her out and got her book, China Mountain Zhang, a most excellent book. I recommend it. I thought she was from China, since a lot of her stuff happens there. It turns out she was a teacher for one year there. My favorite story from this collection was Special Economics, a future in China where bird flu kills off most of the population. Like a lot of MM's story, this is from the perspective of the people on the lower rung of the social ladder. It is a five star story and worth getting the collection. The first story The Naturalist is a five star story and is also in the collection ZOMBIE, MORE RECENT DEAD. The title story is a three star story and can be found in Kaster's TOP TEN TALES #4. I also really enjoyed Honeymoon. It is kind of a white trash story. Three of the nine stories are five star, one is four star and the rest are 1-3 stars.

The narrators are excellent and add to the pleasure of listening.