- Paperback: 155 pages
- Publisher: University of North Texas Press (April 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1574410091
- ISBN-13: 978-1574410099
- Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,949,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
It's easy to see why judge Rick De Marinis awarded this breathtaking collection of 11 stories the Katherine Anne Porter prize. The prose is confiding, the dialogue familiar, which gives Blanchard's stories an intimate everyday-ness that makes her family narratives disturbing and affecting. In "Claybottom Lake," a new stepfather struggles to win the acceptance of his wife's tomboy daughter. It's a poignant portrayal of one of life's most difficult adjustments and a showcase for the author's skill: "Nola is a tomboy, a hell-raiser, a maverick, and she's captured my heart like no other. She's got the broad choppy legs of an athletic boy and the scowl of an old maid.... She stands in the sunlight, an amber specimen in a glass jar, still as an Indian or a stone." Leona, the 13-year-old daughter of a stuntman in the title story, is a prisoner of her mother's neglect and her stepfather's sexual abuse as she wages a daily battle for survival in a small camper trailer. "I lie in Mama's bed awhile, inhaling her sweet scent, but Ty is also here-his spicy smell, curly-rooted black hairs clinging to the white sheets." Among the situations beautifully explored by Blanchard: a tale of lesbian violence; the last days of a proud father; the anguish of parents reconciling themselves to the future of their daughter with Down's Syndrome; and young sisters ruining their mother's chances for romance. Spinning webs of fragile domestic intricacies, Blanchard uses humor, but it's always tempered by the harsh dank air in which family ties unravel.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Here is a collection of short fiction that can renew a jaded reader's faith in the future of the genre. Blanchard has created 11 tiny, jewel-like universes in her stories. In the title story, the daughter of a dead stuntman and his movie-extra wife tries unsuccessfully to deal with her stepfather's sexual advances and eventually runs away from home. More accurately, she runs away with home: she steals the family's mobile home to make her escape. In "The Accident Radio," a volunteer fireman who has suffered a serious heart attack fighting a house fire cannot wean himself from attending disasters; the surprise twist in this story is particularly shattering. In "The Boarder," two young girls plot to break up their widowed mother's romance with their boarder because they don't believe their father is really dead. Blanchard avoids both unremitting ennui and O. Henry^-style trick endings, instead capturing the essence of her characters through tiny nuances and small, precise, sympathetic strokes. George Needham
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
NEW FAN FOR LIFE!,
By Master (Idaho) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Stuntman's Daughter and Other Stories (Paperback)
What a great book of stories! Again I marvel at Ms. Blanchard's gorgeous prose and deft sense of character! Encore!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews) 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Stuntman's Daughter and Other Stories (Paperback)
I bought this after reading Blanchard's novel, "Darkness Peering," and it is a fantastic collection of short, often disturbing, always challenging stories. I have no doubt in my mind that Alice Blanchard is a writer of great talent who will soon be a fixture among the great American writers of our time.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
TERRIFIC WRITING,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Stuntman's Daughter and Other Stories (Paperback)
After reading "Darkness Peering" and loving it, I ran out and picked up a copy of Blanchard's short story collection. I wasn't disappointed. I'm not a huge fan of short stories, but these grabbed me from page one. There is an emotional spine running through all the themes that makes them feel strangely connected and almost novel-like. Her early writing is eerie, darkly poetic and yet hopeful. I highly recommend this for anyone's library.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
THIS IS A WRITER OF RARE INSIGHT.,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Stuntman's Daughter and Other Stories (Paperback)
If you've read Blanchard's stunning psychological thriller "Darkness Peering," these stories are a fascinating insight into her impressive grasp of literary craft. Each story is poetic and passionate. Beautiful and breathtaking. Tragic, yet triumphant. Each character is alive and emotional. I know these people. Each boldly vivid story made me cry. The writer takes a lot of risks. There's a lot at stake for each character. It's a hauntingly original collection and a must-read if you're an Alice Blanchard fan--I know I am.
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