Jenny and the Jaws of Life: Short Stories - Softcover

Willett, Jincy; Sedaris, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312306180 ISBN 13: 9780312306182

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2002

Synopsis

In these wonderfully funny and poignant stories, Willett's eccentric, complex characters think and do the unconventional. Soft, euphonic women gradually grow old; weak, unhappy men confront love and their own mortality; and abominable children desperately

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

"If I could rescue one book, I think it would be Jenny and the Jaws of Life. . . . It's just the funniest collection of stories I've ever read-really funny and perfectly sad at the same time. There was a story in the book called 'The Best of Betty,' which was written in the form of letters to a household-hints author, and it was just perfection. Perfection." -David Sedaris

"A triumphant collection. . . . From a reader Willett can provoke whoops of laughter, wonderment and grim speculation about the brevity of good times for human beings. There's an admirable toughness to her writing as she encompasses the contradictions and uncontrollability of life. She uses words with devastating preciseness." -Chicago Tribune

"Marvelous. . . The language is tight, the scenes are built like blocks until an unexpected end that Willett works in a kind of gothic 'Gotcha.' She's a master of modern technique. Don't expect your usual short story here." -Winston-Salem Journal

"Willett's fiction presents a cavalcade of accidents and tragedies, of mishaps and maladies and emergencies. What makes the short stories so striking is that Willett handles these catastrophes with such cool, wry wit. Willett is ready to join the select group of short story writers-Joyce Carol Oates and Flannery O'Connor among them-who treat lurid, graphic material with psychological acuity and deadpan wit." -Providence Journal

About the Author:

Jincy Willett is a writer and editor based in San Diego, CA. Her short stories have appeared in Playgirl, The Yale Review, and the Massachusetts Review.

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0312306180
• ISBN 13: 9780312306182
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272