The Best of Animals: Stories - Softcover

Grodstein, Lauren

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0892553057 ISBN 13: 9780892553051

Publisher: Persea, 2004

Synopsis

This highly affecting debut story collection stars a cast of young men and women frozen in the headlights of oncoming adulthood. In nimble prose, Lauren Grodstein treats moments of human vulnerability with a smart mix of irony and compassion. Whether halfheartedly consoling--and then fondling--a drunken friend after a breakup ("Lonely Planet") or trying to fill a dead mother's shoes at a father's birthday dinner ("Satellites or Airplanes"), the protagonists of these ten tales rarely say exactly what they mean or know exactly how they feel. Each has a propensity for social insecurity to which we can all relate, as we can to the public blunders and private triumphs that comprise their lives.

About this title

About the Author

Lauren Grodstein grew up in Haworth, New Jersey. Her writing has appeared in Time Out New York, Virgin Fiction 2, Women's World Magazine, Ontario Review, and elsewhere. She currently lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and teaches at Cooper Union.

From Publishers Weekly

Grodstein captures the uncertain nuances of the mating game in her impressive debut collection, consisting of 10 lively, smart stories that focus on 20-something men and women in urban settings who are trying to reconcile their ambivalent feelings for one another. "Lonely Planet" exemplifies Grodstein's modus operandi perfectly, as a young ad executive consoles the guy she yearns for after he breaks up with his new love, then assuages her own loneliness by slipping into bed with him after a night of drinking. "On the Side" explores a similar motif from a male perspective, as a young married man with some serious fidelity issues goes out to buy cold medicine for his sick wife and purchases a package of condoms while torturing himself with vivid images of her imagined betrayals. "Yellow Morning" offers yet another take on the jealousy angle when a woman delays her visit to see her best friend, Caitlin, whose mother is dying, because she finally acknowledges to herself that Caitlin has casually seduced the only two men the narrator cared for. Grodstein tends toward bleakness, but she does have a romantic streak that she indulges quite successfully in "John on the Train: A Fable for Our Cynical Friends," a touching yarn about a young magazine editor who pines for a fellow passenger after he experiences love at first sight on a New York subway. Grodstein's quirky voice and sassy, ironic humor make these stories come alive, and she uses first-person narration to create unusual, believable characters. Her voice becomes a bit familiar and redundant over the course of the collection, but that trait would probably serve her well as a novelist if she decides to try long-form narrative.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Persea
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0892553057
• ISBN 13: 9780892553051
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224