Bear and His Daughter - Softcover

Stone, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0330373099 ISBN 13: 9780330373098

Publisher: Picador, 1999

Synopsis

'These seven stories are remarkable for their unity. Stone's lead characters are all junkies, obsessive and addicts; rage, alcohol and crystal meth galvanize these stories with a hard, bitter energy ...At best, they have the driving rage of Stone's characters' The Times 'Witty, compassionate, impeccably constructed and, for the most part, an astringent pleasure to read ...these absorbing, meticulously crafted stories, with their grizzled humanity and uncomfortable humour, deserve to be read' Times Literary Supplement 'Again and again, casual elegance and perceptiveness combine to produce slight but powerful images ...There is not a surplus sentence or clumsy metaphor anywhere' Scotsman 'Stone is notably sharp when describing vivid states of mind, be it the raised perception that comes during conflict, or the stoned paranoia of a poet' Esquire 'Relentlessly probes lives sacrificed on the altar of extreme living and unchecked inebriation ...relentlessly sad, but often beautiful' Sunday Times

About this title

Review:

The stories in Robert Stone's first collection, Bear and His Daughter were written over the course of 30 years and cover a variety of topics from abortion to drug dealing. In "Miserere," Mary Urquhart, a widow who lost her own children in a terrible accident, now assuages her guilt by taking responsibility for the souls of the unborn. In "Under the Pitons, " the reluctant Blessington finds himself caught up in the grim aftermath of a drug-running scheme, while in "Porque No Tiene, Porque Le Falta" a hike up the side of a Mexican volcano brings about eruptions in the personal lives of ex-patriot Fletch and his companions.

Most of the characters in Stone's stories are male, most of them have no first names. The writing is spare, the motivations and emotions are telegraphed. Everyone in this collection has been wounded by life, and anger is their shield against further pain. Stone is well-known for uncompromising prose on subjects as divergent as Vietnam and Hollywood. In Bear and His Daughter, he continues his exploration of the dark recesses of the human soul.

About the Author:

ROBERT STONE (1937-2015) was the acclaimed author of eight novels and two story collections, including Dog Soldiers, winner of the National Book Award, and Bear and His Daughter, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His memoir, Prime Green, was published in 2007.

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0330373099
• ISBN 13: 9780330373098
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240