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What Burns
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What Burns is the first collection of short fiction from Lambda Award-winning novelist Dale Peck; these stories in this career-spanning volume have won two O. Henry awards and a Pushcart Prize
Written over the course of twenty-five years, the stories in What Burns examine the extremes of desire against a backdrop of family, class, and mortality.
In “Bliss,” a young man ...more
Written over the course of twenty-five years, the stories in What Burns examine the extremes of desire against a backdrop of family, class, and mortality.
In “Bliss,” a young man ...more
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I first encountered Dale Peck's work in the late 1990s, and so was very much looking forward to this, his first collection of short stories from various points over the last 25 years or so.
As with much of Peck's prose, this is a challenging, provocative collection, with a focus on queer relationships, violence, frustrated intimacy. As with many short story collections, there is a hit or miss element. The first story ('Not Even Camping is Like Camping Anymore') has a comic take on a c ...more
As with much of Peck's prose, this is a challenging, provocative collection, with a focus on queer relationships, violence, frustrated intimacy. As with many short story collections, there is a hit or miss element. The first story ('Not Even Camping is Like Camping Anymore') has a comic take on a c ...more
In this anthology of short stories written over the last 25 years, Peck gives us an uneven collection of works. Each work is prefaced by a brief introduction that I found inconsequential. In the past, I have found an anthology usually places a strong work at the beginning. In this case, the strong works are toward the end. Works like "Summer Beam" or "St Anthony of the Vine" are wonderful. They truly exhibit Peck's expertise in this genre. I just wish there were a majority of works of this calib
...more
If you're interested in the art form of the short story, this is a collection you'll want to read. These stories are beautifully crafted and entice the reader into a world where things are messy and challenging.
There's a dark undertone to the stories, but it's realistic in the way that life isn't always flowers and sunshine. I loved this collection.
There's a dark undertone to the stories, but it's realistic in the way that life isn't always flowers and sunshine. I loved this collection.
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