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All Stories are True: The Stories of John Edgar Wideman
A collection of stories about African Americans from all walks of life who reside in Homewood, a black section of Pittsburgh - stories about ancestors, family and lovers caught up in American history and haunted by their particular demons.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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393 people want to read
About the author
John Edgar Wideman
95 books410 followersA widely-celebrated writer and the winner of many literary awards, he is the first to win the International PEN/Faulkner Award twice: in 1984 for Sent for You Yesterday and in 1990 for Philadelphia Fire. In 2000 he won the O. Henry Award for his short story "Weight", published in The Callaloo Journal.
In March, 2010, he self-published "Briefs," a new collection of microstories, on Lulu.com. Stories from the book have already been selected for the O Henry Prize for 2010 and the Best African-American Fiction 2010 award.
His nonfiction book Brothers and Keepers received a National Book Award. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and much of his writing is set there, especially in the Homewood neighborhood of the East End. He graduated from Pittsburgh's Peabody High School, then attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he became an All-Ivy League forward on the basketball team. He was the second African-American to win a Rhodes Scholarship (New College, Oxford University, England), graduating in 1966. He also graduated from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Critics Circle nomination, and his memoir Fatheralong was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also the recipient of a MacArthur genius grant. Wideman was chosen as winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story in 1998, for outstanding achievement in that genre. In 1997, his novel The Cattle Killing won the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for Best Historical Fiction.
He has taught at the University of Wyoming, University of Pennsylvania, where he founded and chaired the African American Studies Department, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's MFA Program for Poets & Writers. He currently teaches at Brown University, and he sits on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal Conjunctions.
In March, 2010, he self-published "Briefs," a new collection of microstories, on Lulu.com. Stories from the book have already been selected for the O Henry Prize for 2010 and the Best African-American Fiction 2010 award.
His nonfiction book Brothers and Keepers received a National Book Award. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and much of his writing is set there, especially in the Homewood neighborhood of the East End. He graduated from Pittsburgh's Peabody High School, then attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he became an All-Ivy League forward on the basketball team. He was the second African-American to win a Rhodes Scholarship (New College, Oxford University, England), graduating in 1966. He also graduated from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Critics Circle nomination, and his memoir Fatheralong was a finalist for the National Book Award. He is also the recipient of a MacArthur genius grant. Wideman was chosen as winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story in 1998, for outstanding achievement in that genre. In 1997, his novel The Cattle Killing won the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for Best Historical Fiction.
He has taught at the University of Wyoming, University of Pennsylvania, where he founded and chaired the African American Studies Department, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's MFA Program for Poets & Writers. He currently teaches at Brown University, and he sits on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal Conjunctions.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 28, 2014
"Welcome" is one of the most haunting stories I've ever read.
The image of a young father and his son standing out in the cold, watched from inside a warm car...I cried in the best way many times reading Wideman's prose for the first time. Because I remember what it's like to stand out in the cold, hoping someone will share their warmth with me.
Powerful words in a humble volume.
The image of a young father and his son standing out in the cold, watched from inside a warm car...I cried in the best way many times reading Wideman's prose for the first time. Because I remember what it's like to stand out in the cold, hoping someone will share their warmth with me.
Powerful words in a humble volume.
July 13, 2014
With Wideman words are atom bombs. So cross the threshold of his stories at your own risk. The language is unique, demanding engagement, no, capitulation. You must surrender to his words, his style, or remain lost in the prose. Engage, though, and it’s hammer blows.
Ten stories in this collection, excepted from The Stories of John Edgar Wideman, so if you have that one . . . Some notes. “Welcome” is a story dense and drenched with emotion about loss and grieving and coming home for christmas that artfully weaves three voices - mother, sister, brother - and does so with a flood of particular details that says authenticity. “Everybody Knew Bubba Riff” is a ten page unpunctuated sentence, a Joycean riff over the lying in the coffin Bubba. “Loon Man” is Wideman strutting more stream-of-consciousness brilliance inside the head of a work release handyman who has competition inside the home from the Loon Man. Intense, powerful, and creepy. “Newborn Thrown in Trash and Dies” is uneven. Awe inspiring in places and then it kind of fizzles at the end, as if Wideman couldn’t complete the vision he had or maybe the piece should have just ended sooner.
Ten stories in this collection, excepted from The Stories of John Edgar Wideman, so if you have that one . . . Some notes. “Welcome” is a story dense and drenched with emotion about loss and grieving and coming home for christmas that artfully weaves three voices - mother, sister, brother - and does so with a flood of particular details that says authenticity. “Everybody Knew Bubba Riff” is a ten page unpunctuated sentence, a Joycean riff over the lying in the coffin Bubba. “Loon Man” is Wideman strutting more stream-of-consciousness brilliance inside the head of a work release handyman who has competition inside the home from the Loon Man. Intense, powerful, and creepy. “Newborn Thrown in Trash and Dies” is uneven. Awe inspiring in places and then it kind of fizzles at the end, as if Wideman couldn’t complete the vision he had or maybe the piece should have just ended sooner.
December 8, 2011
I struggled a bit trying to decide between a rating of three stars or four. I settled on 4 because this author is clearly a gifted writer, and for the most part these were fairly powerful stories. The struggle came because after the third or fourth story, they all started to feel the same. I had a hard time distinquishing one from the other, a continuous run-on narrative. The title story, "All Stories Are True", was well done. "Everybody Knew Bubba" was a brilliant piece, as were "A Voice Foretold", and "Newborn Thrown In Trash and Dies" (if you read none other, read this). And, I wanted to like "Signs" more than I did.
While I find his writing style to be overly wordy -- like he's seen the press that he's "our leading black male writer...", and tries too hard to prove it -- I don't think you can deny that he's talented. I just wish these stories had had broader range.
While I find his writing style to be overly wordy -- like he's seen the press that he's "our leading black male writer...", and tries too hard to prove it -- I don't think you can deny that he's talented. I just wish these stories had had broader range.
June 5, 2008
it's too bad this guy's still so unknown. "everybody knew bubba riff" is incredible.
Currently reading
February 2, 2011Wideman is one of my favorite authors of all time. I am currently discussing his short story "All Stories Are True" with my undergraduate Intro to Lit class.
April 21, 2016
The short story "casa grande" pretty much epitomizes everything I love about reading Wideman. When he's on his game, he's wonderful.
December 28, 2015
A striking and well-crafted compendium of stories that stand out as studies of the African American condition.
May 28, 2023
I did not know what to expect from this collection of ten stories, because I was not familiar with this author. It turned out to be a nice surprise, since Wideman is a strong and deeply introspective writer. He reminded me of James Baldwin. That said, he may not be for everyone.
The stories, mainly set around his hometown of Pittsburgh, seem to be a reflection on his childhood and ancestry. Recommended.
The stories, mainly set around his hometown of Pittsburgh, seem to be a reflection on his childhood and ancestry. Recommended.
March 2, 2024
3.5 stars // favorite stories: "everybody knew bubba riff," "signs," "a voice foretold," "valaida," "hostages," "hazel," "the songs of reba love jackson," "across the wide missouri." damballah was a good reread.
Want to read
November 29, 201911/29/19 read a great short story by the author in The New Yorker titled "Arizona" and would like to read more.
June 30, 2009
Read half. Very challenging but brilliant stream of consciousness writing. Bubba Spark was amazing but in the end just a little too intense and not enough levity for me.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews