Wake: Stories
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Book Overview
In her first collection of short stories, Beth Goldner looks at loss-of love, of health, of life-through the lives of ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances. The women of Wake are suffering--or have suffered--a profound loss, loss that has left them seeking renewal or perhaps just escape. Sometimes they long for a husband, a baby, a trinket, sometimes for something far more elusive. In the title story, two sisters are slowly losing their parents to mental illness. In "Cardiff-by-the-Sea," a man who lost his sight in Vietnam is reborn through a new relationship with a daughter he didn't know he had. In "Plan B," a woman loses her husband to an affair with a much younger woman-and loses her grip on sanity at the same time. In "Outcomes," we meet a hospice worker who steals an inconsequential token from the patients she watches die, her own strange, unethical, but intimate ritual to the life cycle. This bravura performance from a fresh literary voice, bringing together a diversity of characters in various stages of life, will touch and surprise readers as it reveals some of life's smallest but most rewarding possibilities.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:1582432694
ISBN13:9781582432694
Release Date:July 2003
Publisher:Catapult
Length:219 Pages
Weight:0.62 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"
Customer Reviews
4 ratings
Ready for more
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
After hearing that a novel by Beth Goldner would soon be available, I decided to re-read Wake. I was even more impressed with it the second time around. The diverse characters; well-developed, yet concise plots; and the wide-ranging subject matter and settings left me wanting more. After seeing what Ms. Goldner can do in just 20 pages, I can't wait to read her first novel...The Number We End Up With.
Witty
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
I found the stories to be witty, well-written and thought provoking. Some of subject matters make the reader uncomfortable, but the author handles them well. The stories are detailed and yet concise. This book was a good read!
one of my new favorite writers
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
i enjoy collections of short stories. wake did not disappoint me. it provided varied and intriguing slices of life without the typical pollyannaish endings. what puzzles me is the reviews of this pittsburg reader - is there a personal grudge there? despite your claims of not knowing her, your comments seem oddly personal. i bought the book despite them & enjoyed it tremendously. i am looking forward to the next offering from beth goldner.
Don't be fooled by those who mourn
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
Despite the fact that certain readers might be inclined to project their own negative emotional issues onto this book, I think Beth Goldner's _Wake_ is one of the most readable collections of short stories that I've seen in quite a while. Like Ellen Gilchrist, Goldner is a true craftsman of the short story form. Her characters are complex and speak from an honest, practical perspective that is often missing in stories from the academic fiction mills (e.g., university literary journals, the New Yorker, and so on). The people Goldner portrays in _Wake_ may be controversial, but they're definitely not dull. And, for the record, I think there ought to be more authors out there like Goldner who are willing to be brutally honest without clouding their work with literary tricks designed to make them seem intellectual or arty.
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