Articles of Faith - Softcover

Oness, Elizabeth

4.07

14 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0877457263 ISBN 13: 9780877457268

Publisher: University Of Iowa Press, 2000

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In her award-winning collection, Elizabeth Oness travels a vast emotional terrain, from the loss of innocence to sexual betrayal to the helplessness of parents before their children. In “Momentum, ” a woman carries the burden of a dead friend's secret for years until she finally decides to reveal it, only to discover that other, darker secrets still lie in wait. “Rufus” follows the quandary of a young man who is forced to choose between the affection of his girlfriend and his compassion for a homeless man who has taken up residence in his car.

Articles of Faith is a collection of stories about silence and the complications that arise when a silence is kept too long or suddenly broken. As one narrator relates, “I knew that life was full of these things which matter so enormously and make us what we are—but remain unsaid because to voice them does not make them go away, and instead shakes everything around us apart. ”

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About the Author:

Elizabeth Oness lives in La Crosse, Wisconsin, with her husband, the poet C. Mikal Oness, and their son. She directs marketing and development for Sutton Hoo Press. Her stories have received numerous honors, including an O. Henry Prize and a Nelson Algren Award. She has recently completed her �rst novel, Twelve Rivers of the Body.

From Publishers Weekly:

The winner of this year's Iowa Short Fiction Award, this collection of eight stories heralds a fine new voice. The entries reflect a wide range of strong narrative approaches and chronicle the role of silence in relationships: its ability to cement ties and the bracing shock of breaching it. In "A Confusion of Light," a mother watches a televised report of her daughter Elaine's religious compound being blown apart by law enforcement agents. "We guessed something was happening with Elaine," she says, stunned by the reality that her daughter is involved in a cult, "but I didn't want to pry, to be too motherly." In "The Oracle," Philip, recently graduated from college, returns home to find his widowed mother involved with Hal, a born-again Christian. Philip is intensely drawn to Hal's 14-year-old daughter, Megan. His mother won't discuss the seriousness of her new relationship, Hal won't say how or why he became a born-again Christian, and the precocious Megan is hesitant to reveal why she was sent to live with her father. Philip finds himself sneaking around to be with Megan. The silence is momentarily broken, then resumes its hold. In other stories, a young girl grows up under the unspoken guilt of her friend's suicide; a man marries a woman who won't confront her past; and a struggling waitress glimpses a terrible world in the silences of the illegal immigrants who work alongside her in the dishroom. Oness is a highly skilled writer whose stories are freighted with unique messages and perspectives. Since her work is already familiar to readers of literary quarterlies and of the 1994 O. Henry Prizes, Oness should broaden her audience with this collection.
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