2010 Summer Newsletter - Stories

All Summer Newsletter titles are discounted 20% to members through Labor Day.
Short Story Collections

The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg: Stories (Paperback)

By Deborah Eisenberg
$23.00
ISBN-13: 9780312429898
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador, 3/2010
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At first glance, this prose isn’t flashy, yet its phrases can dazzle; the narratives aren’t cerebral, but they pose knotty moral problems; the plots are the classic American ones of the road trip, the repeated coming-of-age, the unsettling encounters with other cultures, especially in Latin America, yet each story moves in complex, unexpected directions. The work of a writer renowned for a spare, distinguished output, THE COLLECTED STORIES OF DEBORAH EISENBERG (Picador, $22) adds up to a substantial body of work. From her accomplished first book in 1986 through her most recent collection, the acclaimed Twilight of the Superheroes, Eisenberg has chronicled the lives of men and women, mostly in New York, struggling to make sense of their lives, relationships, and careers, but her devastating wit, nuanced satire, and uncompromising yet generous vision, make them much more. - Laurie Greer

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned: Stories (Paperback)

By Wells Tower
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780312429294
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador, 2/2010
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Yes, they're sometimes funny, always insightful, and entertaining to read, but the stories in EVERYTHING RAVAGED, EVERYTHING BURNED (Picador, $14), by Wells Tower, plumb the barrenness and futility of men’s lives.  The title story is about a group of Vikings tired and disgusted with raping, burning, and pillaging, who long for the comforts of hearth and home; it exemplifies the timelessness of this particularly male facet of the human condition.  Tower's eye is unflinching, and his humor in the face of subtle but certain terror makes these stories essential.  - Mark LaFramboise

The Thing Around Your Neck (Paperback)

By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780307455918
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anchor, 6/2010
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer who divides her time between the U.S. and the land of her birth. She is a skilled novelist with important stories to tell. In THE THING AROUND YOUR NECK (Anchor, $15), her first collection of short fiction, she writes about the experiences of her fellow Nigerians, here and at home. In the title story a young woman comes to the U.S. and finds this is not the America of her dreams. Another woman lives in the lap of luxury in Philadelphia but learns from friends that her husband has moved another woman into their Lagos home. The sense of isolation and betrayal these women feel is palpable. Adichie makes real the fear of both the medical student fleeing a riot and the Muslim woman who shelters him in “A Private Experience.” The beauty of short-story collections is that they can be read one piece at a time—perfect for summer. - Deb Morris

Dimanche and Other Stories (Paperback)

By Irene Nemirovsky
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780307476364
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 4/2010
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Fans of Suite Française have a new treasure to enjoy with Irene Némirovsky's DIMANCHE (Vintage, $15). Each of these ten stories is written with keen attention to the murky depths of interpersonal relationships, and each story dazzles. In “Fraternité,” a social climber is reminded of the weight of his ancestry when he meets a poor immigrant and finds they have the same unusual last name. In “Le spectacteur,” a man's fallacious belief that he can remain neutral and unaffected in a time of war is shattered when he comes up against the brutality of war itself. The individual ambitions of the mother and daughter in the title story, “Dimanche,” become entangled when the pretentious young daughter unknowingly repeats the patterns of her mother's life. Némirovsky's talents as a writer and sharp observer of class and identity shine with each story. - Lacey Dunham