American Homes (21St Century Prose) - Softcover

Ridge, Ryan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0472052586 ISBN 13: 9780472052585

Publisher: University of Michigan Press, 2014

Synopsis

American Homes by Ryan Ridge is a satirical exploration of the modern American home and its symbolic role in culture, identity, and society. Blending humor, wit, and sharp social commentary, the book dissects domestic spaces—attics, basements, kitchens, windows, doors, and more—while reflecting on the American dream, materialism, and suburban life. Through Ridge's playful and often absurd prose, everyday household elements become metaphors for larger societal issues, revealing the quirks, contradictions, and anxieties of contemporary life.

From the nostalgia of front porches to the hidden mysteries of basements, Ridge turns ordinary spaces into insightful meditations on homeownership, personal identity, and cultural expectations. American Homes is as much an architectural guidebook as it is a critique of consumerism, presenting a vivid portrait of how we live and the structures that define us. The result is a thought-provoking, humorous, and occasionally surreal commentary on what it means to call a place "home" in America.

About this title

About the Author

Ryan Ridge is the author of the story collection Hunters & Gamblers, the poetry collection Ox, as well as the chapbooks 22nd Century Man and Hey, it's America. His work can be found in places like PANK, Salt Hill, Tin House, McSweeney's Small Chair, FLAUNT Magazine, The Santa Monica Review, Sleepingfish, and elsewhere. A former editor for Faultline Journal of Arts & Letters, he currently serves as a managing editor for Juked. He writes and teaches in Louisville, Kentucky.

From the Back Cover

"You want to know what I think about Ryan Ridge, the writer, the author of this great book in your hands, you there, holding this book, kind of figuring, well, should I buy it or shouldn't I: well good, I'll tell you about Ryan Ridge. He is the single greatest should-be-already-known-by-everyone young writer of genius, of sparkling drugged handsome funny--and if you can be funny, like this guy funny, knock yourself out, if you can be this smart and funny, but you're probably getting sort of tired already just trying to imagine being the kind of funny this guy is funny, not easy funny, genius funny, the kind to make you laugh, make you just GD tickled how funny he is, clever, historically playful, formally inventive, big scope, firework, Brautigan, you know, bred with say Vonnegut, listen, I'm getting a bit famished here, trying to convoke you into getting it, that this guy, Ridge, remember, Ryan Ridge, he is not someone to put the book thereof's down, I'm saying buy it buy it buy it, and then try like hell after you finish it, in one day, in an afternoon, convexed into it as you will be, rushing through it, swallowing the whole book trying to--once all through it you'll be wanting more, then try like hell to get a handle on his first book Hunters and Gamblers, after you finish American Homes and then do what I do, and wait your pretty self for the next one to come from Ryan Ridge into your lucky hands."--Luke B. Goebel, author of Fourteen Stories, None of Them Are Yours

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0472052586
• ISBN 13: 9780472052585
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128