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Things You Should Know: A Collection of Storiesby Homes, A. M
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Book DescriptionNY: HarperCollins, 2002. Eleven short stories by critically-acclaimed New York City author A.M. Homes. Jacket lightly scuffed, else a clean, tight copy.. Second Printing. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Book summaryMore edgy stories set in bleak and angst-ridden suburbia, many of them about violence, desperation, and/or unconventional sex. A New York Times Notable Book for 2002.Media Reviews"Some of the stories in THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW--an archly didactic title considering the things in it that you've no real need to know--display the grotesque very much for its own sake. The extremity is disproportionate to any human message; the transgressiveness a sort of artistic complacency....But there is far more to Homes. There are stories where the strangeness is in uncertain but fascinating balance with those who display it." -- Richard Eder, New York Times Book Review "If airing out the trope of suburbia's rotten core has become a less than compelling cliché, Homes, for the most part, digs deep enough to brace us with her portraits of isolation and insecurity....Homes blurs the comfortable boundary between story and reader by making her readers feel like voyeurs, or witnesses to a vague crime...; moreover, she relishes unnerving us with her overly dramatic plots." -- Suzan Sherman, Bookforum "[A] certain emptiness of spirit follows this emptiness of subject, as the desire to connect...appears to be neglected between author and reader....[I]n [some] moments Homes's writing, catheterized of passion as it is, manages to be both draining and exhilarating. The 'connection' with the reader for which she has been looking finally comes....Elsewhere, we are left with a lurking sense that A.M. Homes is on to something without ever quite reaching it." -- Stephen Abell, Times Literary Supplement Publisher NotesThe most daring voice of her generation, A. M. Homes writes with terrifying compassion about the things that matter most. Homes's distinctive narratives illuminate our dreams and desires, our memories and losses, and our profound need for connection, and demonstrate how extraordinary the ordinary can be. In "Chinese Lesson," we meet Geordie, a man watching over his wandering, senile mother-in-law by means of an electronic chip implanted in the back of her neck. In "Remedy," an advertising executive bolts from the city one afternoon for the imagined comfort of her childhood home and finds that her parents have allowed Ray, an eccentric wellness guru, to move in. Sexy and inspiring, "Georgica" offers a meditative narrative about one woman's unconventional strategy for getting pregnant. "The Former First Lady and the Football Hero" is the deeply moving, darkly comic story of a former First Lady's courage in dealing with the President as his mind slowly evaporates. In these beautifully written stories, we find shape-shifters, children running headlong into the darkness of adolescent sexuality, a man passionately wanting to live but not knowing how. And, most important, we find ourselves. An expert literary witness, A. M. Homes takes us places we would not go alone and brings us back -- always with uncanny emotional accuracy, wit, and empathy. She is one of the master practitioners of American fiction, and Things You Should Know is a landmark collection. Other Recommended Books
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