Patchwork: A Bobbie Ann Mason Reader

by Bobbie Ann Mason, George Saunders (Introduction), Jonathan Allison (Preface)

Bobbie Ann Mason burst onto the American literary scene during a renaissance of short fiction that Raymond Carver called a "literary phenomenon." Anne Tyler hailed Mason as "a full-fledged master of the short story." Mason's work, charged with a spirit of exploration, garnered both popular and critical acclaim.

This reader collects outstanding examples of Mason's award-winning work from throughout her writing career and provides a unique look at the development of one of the country's finest writers. Patchwork contains short stories first published in the New Yorker and other leading periodicals; chapters from Mason's acclaimed novels, including In Country, An Atomic Romance, and The Girl in the Blue Beret ; and riveting excerpts from Mason's eclectic nonfiction. Some examples of Mason's recent explorations in flash fiction appear here in print for the first time.

Mason's writing glows with a nuanced understanding of the struggles and pathos of American life in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. George Saunders writes in his introduction, "Bobbie Ann Mason is a strange and beautiful writer. . . . Her stories exist to gently touch on, and praise, even mourn, what it feels like to be alive in this moment." Patchwork conveys Mason's extraordinary talent and range as a writer.

512 pages, Hardcover

Published June 29, 2018

About the author

Bobbie Ann Mason has won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the American Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her books include In Country and Feather Crowns. She lives in Kentucky.

Reviews

[Kathie Giorgio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this review isn't really fair. Because I'm not going to complain about the writer. The writer is wonderful and her work is just stellar. I'm complaining about the book.

When I saw the "Bobbie Ann Mason Reader" was coming out, I was excited. I admit - I didn't read the book's description. I was just thrilled that it was Mason and it appeared to be a collection of her work. I've always enjoyed Bobbie Ann Mason and to have a good chunk of her between two covers was exciting to think about. When I saw the length of the book - 486 pages - I was further thrilled because I thought the book must contain a LOT of Mason's fiction.

And it had some of her fiction. But it also had some nonfiction. And some goofy pieces for the New Yorker. And some flash fiction she wrote with someone else. And interviews. And literary criticism that she wrote on dead authors. And...I didn't care. I wanted the FICTION.

So I flipped through a lot of pages. I dug into and enjoyed the fiction. I enjoyed reading her introductions of the work. I skipped the rest.

I doubt that this review is really going to help anyone. Unless you're like me and really really REALLY wanted this to be a full collection of Mason's fiction. It's not. Find something else. If you really want to see the full breadth of what Mason has done - all the way down to literary criticism of dead authors - well, then this is for you.

She's an amazing writer.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patchwork was a delightful introduction to Bobbi Ann Mason's work. I was drawn in after reading a preview of George Saunders's introduction, and so glad that it found its way to me. Mason's voice is electric. I loved her short stories, especially those from the 1980s, and look forward to picking up her collections to get more of these. Her pieces that focus on her family home in Kentucky were also invigorating. I understand why her memoir about her parents' farm was nominated for "The Tulip Surprise." The reader format took me several months to get through, the length is a lot to tackle and the work is easy to put down and forget in between sections. However, I kept coming back to it, and it was worth the journey.