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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did "Some Trick" say? It's a magic phrase.

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Some Trick: Thirteen Stories
AuthorHelen DeWitt
LanguageEnglish
PublisherNew Directions Publishing
Publication date29 May 2018
Publication placeUnited States
Pages224
ISBN9780811227827

Some Trick: Thirteen Stories, published in 2018, is a short story collection by American writer Helen DeWitt.[1]

Contents

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  • "Brutto"
  • "My Heart Belongs to Bertie"
  • "On the Town"
  • "Remember Me"
  • "Climbers"
  • "Improvisation Is the Heart of Music"
  • "Famous Last Words"
  • "The French Style of Mlle Matsumoto"
  • "Stolen Luck"
  • "In Which Nick Buys a Harley"
  • "Trevor"
  • "Plantinga"
  • "Entourage"

Reception

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Some Trick was well received by critics, including starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly.[2][3] Kirkus noted that many of the stories illuminate "the backside or underside of creative work" and commended DeWitt's combination of "wide-ranging intellect" with humor and deeply human characters.[2] Publishers Weekly highlighted DeWitt's portrayals of "misunderstood genius" and her "disdain for those who seek to profit off of genius," and praised the collection's "astounding prose" and "thought-provoking stories."[3] The book also received reviews from The Atlantic,[4] Frieze,[5] Harper's Magazine,[6] Los Angeles Review of Books,[7] The Millions,[8] The New York Times,[9] NPR,[10] The Paris Review,[11] and SFGate.[12]

References

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  1. Quinn, Annalisa (May 29, 2018). "'Some Trick' Takes On The Life Of The (Delightfully Irritable) Mind". NPR. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Some Trick". Kirkus Reviews. March 1, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  3. 1 2 "Some Trick by Helen DeWitt". Publishers Weekly. March 5, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  4. Kirsch, Adam (June 25, 2018). "The Anguished Comedy of Helen DeWitt". The Atlantic. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  5. Durbin, Andrew (March 12, 2018). "Helen DeWitt's Short Stories Seek Truth in Information". Frieze. No. 194. ISSN 0962-0672. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  6. Dee, Jonathan (May 2018). "Walk Away". Harper's Magazine. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  7. McNamara, Nathan Scott (June 8, 2018). "Everything Was a Fake". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  8. Ridker, Andrew (May 31, 2018). "The Life of the Mind: On Helen DeWitt's 'Some Trick'". The Millions. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  9. Hoby, Hermione (June 1, 2018). "Mining the Madness of Pure Logic in Stories That Dazzle and Discomfit". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  10. Quinn, Annalisa (May 29, 2018). "'Some Trick' Takes On The Life Of The (Delightfully Irritable) Mind". NPR. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  11. Martin, Andrew (May 29, 2018). "Helen DeWitt Lacerates the Literary World by Andrew Martin". The Paris Review. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  12. Miller, Gregory Leon (June 7, 2018). "'Some Trick: Thirteen Stories,' by Helen DeWitt". SF Gate. Retrieved June 29, 2025.