Beach : Stories by the Sand and Sea

by Lena Lencek (editor), Gideon Bosker (Editor)

J. D. Salinger's "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," John Cheever's "Goodbye, My Brother," Doris Lessing's "Through the Tunnel": These and dozens of other beloved stories share the beach as their setting. In fact, it is remarkable how many of the finest writers have set stories and novels in whole or in part at the beach -- and how often they use this locale to explore the great themes of love, loss, death, family, and redemption. Beach brings together, for the first time, the very best of this literary tradition, including stories, novel excerpts, and narrative nonfiction.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2000

Reviews

[Staci Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in, albeit northern, California and have an affinity for the ocean. This is a great collection to not only have read but to hold on to and revisit....especially if you are currently landlocked like myself.

[Jennifer Cannady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely collection of stories with a beach setting. Some center the beach setting such that it serves as a type of character, others treat it as more a backdrop to develop characters or to focus on topics as varied as love affairs, the impact of tourism or issues of class. Most of the writers are ones well known like Rachel Carson, John Updike, Jamaica Kincaid etc.

Some pieces are very self contained while’s others are obviously a snippet of a larger work but they all manage to evoke the powerful feelings associated with the simultaneous constancy and ever changing nature of the beach.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice mix of authors. Fun for the summer...which has pretty much ended in Michigan.