false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1224130851m/3734317.jpg 3734317 2 From Lauren Groff, author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling first novel The Monsters of Templeton, comes Delicate Edible Birds, one of the most striking short fiction debuts in recent years. Here are nine stories of astonishing insight and variety, each revealing a resonant drama within the life of a twentieth-century American woman. In “Sir Fleeting,” a Midwestern farm girl on her honeymoon in Argentina falls into lifelong lust for a French playboy. In “Blythe,” an attorney who has become a stay-at-home mother takes a night class in poetry and meets another full-time mother, one whose charismatic brilliance changes everything. In “The Wife of the Dictator,” that eponymous wife (“brought back . . . from [the dictator’s] last visit to America”) grows more desperately, menacingly isolated every day. In “Delicate Edible Birds,” a group of war correspondents—a lone, high-spirited woman among them—falls sudden prey to a brutal farmer while fleeing Nazis in the French countryside. In “Lucky Chow Fun,” Groff returns us to Templeton, the setting of her first book, for revelations about the darkness within even that idyllic small town. In some of these stories, enormous changes happen in an instant. In others, transformations occur across a lifetime—or several lifetimes. Throughout the collection, Groff displays particular and vivid preoccupations. Crime is a motif—sex crimes, a possible murder, crimes of the heart. Love troubles recur; they’re in every story—love in alcoholism, in adultery, in a flood, even in the great flu epidemic of 1918. Some of the love has depths, which are understood too late; some of the love is shallow, and also understood too late. And mastery is a theme—Groff’s women swim and baton twirl, become poets, or try and try again to achieve the inner strength to exercise personal freedom. Overall, these stories announce a notable new literary master. Dazzlingly original and confident, Delicate Edible Birds will further Groff’s growing reputation as one of the foremost talents of her generation. 3778128 27 1 2009 Delicate Edible Birds: And Other Stories total:291|5:90|4:121|3:59|2:17|1:4| 291 1149 628 82 4 10 false false Tue Mar 24 08:04:55 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 08:07:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue May 12 18:11:40 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 20 06:42:42 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 18:11:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 16:56:25 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 11:32:48 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Fri Apr 10 15:52:20 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 16:06:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Mar 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 21:58:58 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 14:52:48 -0700 2009
A lot of short stories consist of 10-20 pages of lousy foreplay followed by a big cow flop of a denouement, with nary a climax in sight. Some don't even bother with a denouement, they just end abruptly, leaving the reader with the literary equivalent of lover's nuts. I have gi...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 23:16:33 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 21 18:18:54 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Apr 23 16:47:41 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 23 16:55:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jul 13 10:55:22 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 10:55:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 23:16:32 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 23:31:06 -0700 2009
The stories, each so different, were sagas in their scope; whole lives were revealed. I'm not sure which stories were my favorites since all of them...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 11:25:47 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 11:26:26 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 07:14:53 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 16:22:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 19:28:30 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 08:11:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Aug 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Feb 22 20:15:23 -0800 2009 Mon Aug 31 22:00:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 06:25:01 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 06:32:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 09:06:38 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 09:11:28 -0700 2009 Delicate Edible Birds is a collection of nine short stories that deal with the intimate details of women's lives in the face of adversity. They are all told by wom...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Apr 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Feb 17 12:18:47 -0800 2009 Fri Apr 03 10:05:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 06 07:37:24 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 07:42:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jan 23 08:45:08 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 09 18:38:37 -0700 2009 The Monsters of Templeton after reading a blurb about it in the BOMC mailing. It was one of the most satisfying things I read last year, filled with lovable and eccentric characters, some madness, some magic, and a lot of heart. This collection, while somewhat darker o...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 06 04:43:09 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 08 13:24:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Feb 19 11:19:24 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 17 23:26:16 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 11:19:24 -0800 2009 However, only a couple of the stories in this collection have lingered in ...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3734317