I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere - Softcover

Gavalda, Anna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1573223557 ISBN 13: 9781573223553

Publisher: Riverhead Trade, 2003

Synopsis

An evocative collection of short fiction, a bestseller in the author's native France, explores the lives of a variety of human beings who long to connect with themselves and with others, in a volume that also includes the complete French text. Winner of the Short Story Festival Prix de la Ville. Original.

About this title

Review:

Reading Anna Gavalda's story collection, I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere, is a bit like choosing the mini-éclair over its full-size counterpart--while the smaller size makes each morsel that much more satisfying, you can't help but wish for just one more bite. Still, in many cases, Gavalda does a better job of capturing the essence of human emotion in each five-to-ten page story than many writers manage to do in epic novels.

Gavalda sets up every story such that each character's fate can be decided in a single moment. Whether the protagonist's pivotal moment is decided by fate or free will is what keeps these 12 stories fresh and unique. In "Lead Story," traveling salesman Jean-Pierre does not learn the true horrific consequences of an almost-missed exit on the highway until opening Le Figaro the next morning. The veterinarian in Catgut decides her fate in the instant after a brutal crime leaves her feeling physically and emotionally victimized. And when the mysterious stranger answers his cell phone on a first date in Courting Rituals of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés, our heroine decides she has heard enough to cut short what could have been a passionate love affair. ("I come to my senses all at once. Traitor. Ingrate.") It is in these crucial instants, where fate plays a hand, that Gavalda truly shows off her ability to convey love, longing, loneliness, and satisfaction. And perhaps the clarity of these moments is worth more than any full-size French pastry. --Gisele Toueg

About the Author:

Born in 1970, Anna Gavalda was a teacher whose collection of stories, I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere, shot her to fame (published in Vintage together with her novella, Someone I Loved). Her novel Hunting and Gathering (Ensemble c'est tout) was a bestseller in several countries, selling over two million copies, and was made into a film and her most recent novel is Consolation. Her books have been translated into thirty-six languages. The mother of two children, she lives and writes just outside Paris.

About this edition

• Publisher: Riverhead Trade
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1573223557
• ISBN 13: 9781573223553
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208