Safe and Sound

by Lucia Berlin

A dozen short stories by a modern American author who is often compared to Eudora Welty, Raymond Carver and Fielding Dawson.

Genres: Short Stories

102 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Berlin began publishing relatively late in life, under the encouragement and sometimes tutelage of poet Ed Dorn. Her first small collection, Angels Laundromat was published in 1981, but her published stories were written as early as 1960. Several of her stories appeared in magazines such as The Atlantic and Saul Bellow’s little magazine The Noble Savage.

Berlin published six collections of short stories, but most of her work can be found in three later volumes from Black Sparrow Books: Homesick: New and Selected Stories, So Long: Stories 1987-92 and Where I Live Now: Stories 1993-98.

Berlin was never a bestseller, but was widely influential within the literary community. She aspired to Chekhov's objectivity and refusal to judge. She has also been widely compared to Raymond Carver and Richard Yates. One of her most memorable achievements was the stunning one-page story "My Jockey," which captured a world, a moment and a panoramic movement in five quick paragraphs. It won the Jack London Short Prize for 1985. Berlin also won an American Book Award in 1991 for Homesick, and was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fifth Lucia Berlin book I've read and reviewed. Her stories are wonderful, the problem is: all of the books are a repeat of the same stories. I've never run across this before, usually if stories are repeated there is included in the title: "selected stories" but no, there are 5 different books with different titles and the same stories over and over. Now these are great stories and some deserve a second read but maybe not a fourth and fifth read. I just think this is very strange and a little fraudulent. I'm giving this book 3 stars instead of 4 or 5 because of this and I'm done hunting for more of her books even though I love her writing and her stories.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal collection from a transcendent writer.