Lorrie Mooreová je uznávanou americkou autorkou, která se proslavila svým pronikavým zkoumáním moderního života, zejména hledání lásky a společenství. Její povídky mistrovsky zachycují často absurdní útrapy obyčejného života s neochvějnou inteligencí, téměř zázračným vtipem a pozoruhodnou hloubkou citu. Mooreová píše s pozoruhodnou obratností a ostrostí, její styl je současně veselý i dojemný a vytvořila si nenapodobitelný autorský rukopis. Její zralá díla vyzařují velkorysost a průzračnost, ukazují autorku, která ovládla své umění a přináší čtenářům ryzí potěšení.
He is living in an America hurtling headlong into hysteria, after all. High up in a New York hospice, he sits with his beloved brother Max as he slips from one world into the next. A call from Illinois summons him back to his troubled old flame Lily, the great love of his life.
Adrienne is living in a puritanical age, when the best compliment a childless woman can get is: 'You'd make a terrific mother'. That's when she goes to her friends' Labor Day picnic and accidentally kills their baby. The shock of this scene is expertly packed into two brief paragraphs. What follows is Adrienne's retreat from life and her attempt to return to it. Her sharp scepticism about the people around her is achingly funny. Yet beyond derision there is forgiveness and something along the lines of love.
Collects forty short stories published between 1915 and 2015, from writers that include Ernest Hemingway, John Updike, and Alice Munro that exemplify their era and stand the test of time --
Shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award In these eight masterful stories, Lorrie Moore explores the passing of time and summons up its inevitable sorrows and comic pitfalls. Gimlet-eyed social observation, the public and private absurdities of American life, irony and half-cracked love wend their way through these stories, in which Moore is always tender, never sentimental and often heartbreakingly funny.
These humorous and poignant tales of lovers, loneliness, and never-quite- belonging, delivered in her characteristically knowing, wry voice, confirm Lorrie Moore as a master of the short story form.
With America quietly gearing up for war in the Middle East, twenty-year-old Tassie Keltjin, a 'half-Jewish' farmer's daughter from the plains of the Midwest, has come to university - escaping her provincial home to encounter the complex world of culture and politics. When she takes a job as a part-time nanny to a couple who seem at once mysterious and glamorous, Tassie is drawn into the life of their newly-adopted child and increasingly complicated household. As her past becomes increasingly alien to her - her parents seem older when she visits; her disillusioned brother ever more fixed on joining the military - Tassie finds herself becoming a stranger to herself. As the year unfolds, love leads her to new and formative experiences - but it is then that the past and the future burst forth in dramatic and shocking ways. Refracted through the eyes of this memorable narrator, A Gate at the Stairs is a lyrical, beguiling and wise novel of our times.
The Best American series, established in 1915, highlights exceptional short fiction and nonfiction annually. Each volume features a selection process where a series editor reviews numerous periodicals, narrowing down hundreds of works to around twenty outstanding pieces, chosen by a renowned guest editor. This distinctive approach contributes to the series' reputation as the most respected and popular anthology of its kind, showcasing the best literary talent in the country.
„Aben ist ein Wichtel und der beste Spielzeugbauer in der geheimen Werkstatt des Weihnachtsmanns. Aber er ist auch sein ungezogenster Wichtel. Ständig ärgert er die anderen Wichtel, trägt jeden Tag seinen Sonntagsanzug und hat richtige Starallüren. Deshalb muss er am Heiligabend zur Strafe draußen auf den Dächern die Rentiere beaufsichtigen, während die anderen Wichtel die Geschenke verteilen. Beim allerletzten Haus schleicht Aben ihnen jedoch heimlich durch den Kamin hinterher – und verpasst die Abfahrt. Nun muss er ein Jahr warten, bis der Weihnachtsmann zurückkehrt und ihn zum Nordpol mitnimmt. Und es ist keineswegs sicher, dass der im nächsten Jahr überhaupt hier einkehren wird. Denn Eva, das kleine Mädchen, das in dem Haus wohnt, entpuppt sich schnell als eine mindestens ebenso große Landplage wie Aben. Er hat nur eine Chance – er muss Eva bis zum nächsten Heiligabend in ein artiges kleines Mädchen verwandeln. “
Characterized by its fluid and colloquial style, this work offers a sharp and humorous exploration of human love and vulnerability. It stands out as a significant examination of these themes, blending wit with poignant insights, making it both entertaining and thought-provoking. The narrative promises to resonate with readers through its unique voice and relatable content.
This novel follows the lives of two 11-year-olds intent on escaping childhood. As the strength of their friendship is tested repeatedly, they begin to take their first, exhilarating steps towards adulthood.
In these tales of loss and pleasure, lovers and family, a woman learns to conduct an affair, a child of divorce dances with her mother, and a woman with a terminal illness contemplates her exit. Filled with the sharp humor, emotional acuity, and joyful language Moore has become famous for, these nine glittering tales" "marked the introduction of an extravagantly gifted writer.
A collection of sort stories about life, love and fear, full of humour and poignantly written by an American master storyteller.
Benna Carpenter is an art history professor who wears glass jewelry, sings in local nightclubs, chain-smokes, runs an aerobics class for the elderly, teaches poetry, and has an adorable and devoted six-year-old daughter. Yet Benna is disillusioned, cynical and bitter. With brilliant imagination and wit, this extraordinary novel explores Benna's world of misheard exit lines, love gained and lost truths almost told, and fragile and desperate hope.
