- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Picador (Mar 15 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312151187
- ISBN-13: 978-0312151188
- Product Dimensions: 20.9 x 13.9 x 1.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 236 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #864,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Ranging in setting from provincial China to downtown Manhattan, the 11 short stories in Egan's first collection trace characters grappling with a wide variety of backgrounds and situations. But whether portraying the ennervated atmosphere of an exotic fashion shoot in Africa ("The Stylist") or a teen's discovery of her father's secret life ("Puerto Vallarta"), Egan's writing is even more assured and convincing than it was in her debut novel, The Invisible Circus. In the chilling "Sacred Heart," about a young girl's obsessive infatuation with her school's premier self-destructive rebel, Egan manages to sustain an atmosphere charged with menace without resorting to predictable shock effects. Many of the tales concern Americans abroad, characters who are disconnected from both their present environments and from the lives they've left behind. This theme finds its most persuasive expression in the dazzling "Why China?" in which a troubled San Francisco financial trader encounters the con man who once cheated him out of $25,000. With remarkable economy, Egan develops an uneasy cat-and-mouse game between the two men, as well as a rare depth of characterization for such a short work. While a smattering of the tales here seem like apprentice work by comparison-the title story, for instance, which concerns a hyper-trendy photographer's assistant in Manhattan-the collection as a whole showcases Egan as a writer of admirable ambition and accomplishment.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
Appearing just after the publication of her first novel, The Invisible Circus (LJ 11/15/94), Egan's stories will satisfy many readers. Her protagonists-adult men and women, and adolescents who fight fear, loneliness, boredom, and discontent-could be anyone anywhere. A troubled trader ("Why China?") takes his family to a remote province; a parochial school student ("Sacred Heart") copes with adolescent angst; estranged marital partners ("Passing the Hat") find happiness elusive; models and their photographers ("Emerald City") seek reality in an artificial world. Longing for what they lack in their own lives, Egan's characters witness life evolving around them. Readers will enjoy the author's crisp writing style and the realism of "plain folks" trying to cope with common problems in global settings. Recommended for fiction collections of public libraries.
Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, Md.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, Md.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully crafted, a joy to read,
By
This review is from: Emerald City: Stories (Paperback)
I'm a writer. I've heard Jennifer Egan speak, and I know her background and history. You guys are as far off-base as you could possibly be.Pay no attention to the negative reviews. How seriously can you take, for example, someone who can't distinguish between an author's own politics and those of the characters about whom she writes? And yes, she has academic training -- but her fiction was shaped by her experience as a struggling young writer in New York. And finally, the dozen-and-a-half reviews excerpted in the edition I have include raves from the NYTBR, Time, The Phila Inquirer, The SF Chrnoicle, etc -- who are you going to believe? NYTBR or some anonymous bozo on Amazon? Buy it -- you will absolutely not regret it.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good writing by an author stuck in gender myths,
By Traveler (New England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Emerald City: Stories (Paperback)
It's true, Jennifer Egan is a good writer. She's descriptive and eloquent. The problem is, her characters are all the same and her view on the world is, quite bluntly, annoying and misleading.The majority of the female characters in this book are whimps who have things done to them. They're victims. Sure, a lot of them are scruffy "survivors," I'll admit as much. But none of these women are really proactive or, for that matter, perpetrators, at least not on par with the men in these stories. One example where Egan has the "victim" thing really messed up: Reliable studies have shown that the "First Wives Club" mentality is a myth. The majority of men do not leave their wives for prettier, younger trophy wives. About 2 thirds of all divorces are actually instigated by the wives. The men don't come out smelling like tulips here, however. A large percentage of wives ask for those divorces because they're tired of being super moms or having to take care of their husbands like they're children. The point is, a lot of women take charge of their lives and are not victims! As for most men, the idea of a young pretty second wife is typically, in reality, the thing of fantasies. Egan needs to wake up to the world and understand that people are just people. Men get cheated on, women get cheated on, sometimes you're victim, sometimes you're the perpetrator. This book might be eloquent, but it's also a victim's propaganda -- one that perpetuates myths and adds fuel to the "gender war" instead of adding to our understanding. Please, Ms. Egan, get some objectivity.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just Right,
By
This review is from: Emerald City: Stories (Paperback)
I read this slim volume of stories with a sense of awe. Each story is like a jewel set in an elegant bracelet. Egan's prose is crystal clear yet subtle. Her characters are so alive, so fatally human. Each story veered away from what I expected, but surprised me with how "right" they ended. Although these tales are conventional short stories, each of them had the clarity of a fine poem yet the depth of a novel.
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