Indie Pick, July 2009
In Uncategorized on July 1, 2009 at 9:09 PMDzanc Books and its imprints have published many compelling debut short-story collections in the last year or two: Kyle Minor’s In the Devil’s Territory, Michael Czyzniejewski’s Elephants in Our Bedroom, and Allison Amend’s Things That Pass for Love, just to name three. To this growing and impressive list, add one more: Misfits and Other Heroes by Suzanne Burns.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Suzanne Burns has previously published two collections of poetry: Blight and The Flesh Procession. Her writing has been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and she is the recipient of two poetry fellowships. She is a freelance editor who is currently working on a new novel.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
“This is no ordinary collection. In Misfits and Other Heroes Burns writes of disproportion, excess, reinvention, and lack as a means of magnifying outward physical irregularities to better reveal the inner irregularities of her characters. Burns is unafraid to explore the dark territory of human heart where love and hate are twins for desire and dread. The many brilliant moments of character, language, and startling observations indicate Burns is a keen observer of the wretched and wonderful human creature. In Burns’ capable hands the grotesque becomes achingly familiar: the misfits she writes about are us.”
—Gina Oschner, author of People I Wanted to Be
“Suzanne Burns’s “heroes” in Misfits and Other Heroes may at first seem just the other side of real, but in their obsessions with food and love and their stories’ perfectly odd specificity, they’re as real and credible as Americans can be, whether they’re a tiny husband carried around in a bird cage by his wife or a woman who prefers to eat glass rather than dumplings or a couple attached to a dollhouse. Who would have thought that Oregon’s misfits could be as deluded and cruel as Flannery O’Connor’s Southerners and even more bizarre?”
—Tom Whalen, author of Winter Coat
WHERE TO BUY:
Your local independent bookstore
The publisher, Dzanc Books
Powell’s [buy new, even if used is available]
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Big House Pick, July 2009
In Uncategorized on July 1, 2009 at 8:50 PMJean Thompson, heralded as “America’s Alice Munro…one of the best contemporary short-story writers” by Kirkus, delivers twelve exquisite new stories that combine her beloved trademarks of dark humor, seductively sharp wit, and uncanny observations on human nature. Do Not Deny Me is a fictional primer on how Americans live day to day: Thompson’s characters—a middle manager in the midst of midlife crisis, an urban single visiting her best friend turned suburban mother, a grieving woman looking for guidance—are instantly recognizable in their predicaments, foibles, and sensibilities.
A brilliantly wrought exploration of the myriad circumstances that Americans are experiencing right now, this superlative collection perfectly captures the joys and amusements, trials and sorrows of its fictional inhabitants. Do Not Deny Me should be savored, word by word.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jean Thompson is the author of Throw Like a Girl as well as the novel City Boy; the short story collection Who Do You Love, a 1999 National Book Award finalist for fiction; and the novel Wide Blue Yonder, a New York Times Notable Book and Chicago Tribune Best Fiction selection for 2002. Her short fiction has been published in many magazines and journals, including The New Yorker, and been anthologized in the Best American Short Stories and Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses. Jean’s work has been praised by Elle as “bracing and wildly intelligent writing that explores the nature of love in all its hidden and manifest dimensions.”
Jean’s other books include the short story collections The Gasoline Wars and Little Face, and the novels My Wisdom and The Woman Driver. She has been the recipient of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, among other accolades, and taught creative writing at the University of Illinois, Reed College, Northwestern University, and many other colleges and universities.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
“If there are ‘Jean Thompson characters,’ they’re us, and never have we been so articulate and worthy of compassion. These stories confirm that no one is beneath her interest, or beyond her sure and seemingly limitless reach.”
—David Sedaris, author of When You Are Engulfed in Flames
“Her stories linger and seep into your dreams.”
—Bernard Cooper, author of The Bill from My Father
WHERE TO BUY:
Your local independent bookstore
Powell’s [buy new, even if used is available]
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
