Paula Bomer is a dangerous writer. The short stories in her debut collection are subversive portraits of the modern American family. From a husband who traces his internal crisis to witnessing his wife giving birth, to a mother who forces her young son on a rainy walk through a cemetery as she contemplates the detritus of her marriage, Bomer s characters are hauntingly familiar. Their fear and rage, their failures and desires are our own.
Baby & Other Stories
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In 10 raw and angry stories, Bomer flays the idea of happy little families, giving readers an assortment of emasculated and discarded husbands; brooding, unfulfilled wives; and the poor children--destined for therapy--unlucky enough to bind them. Bomer's characters, Brooklynites for the most part, having been coddled by adoring mothers, raised in upper-middle-class homes, and propelled from Ivy League colleges, now shrink from "the cold reality of the indifference of the universe." For Lara in the title story, having a baby turned into bitter disappointment once she realizes that winning the "ultimate contest" really entails a life of drudgery. Bomer's characters spew many ungracious thoughts, but these are forthright, hilarious, and honest, as with Edie, the snarly mother of two grown sons, who so evidently favors her golden Thomas over the needy Michael, "who was uncoordinated, who needed glasses, who clung to her as a boy too big to be clinging to his mother," that she exults in his unhappiness as a newly married man and father. This lacerating take on marriage and motherhood is not one to share with the Mommy and Me group. (Dec.) (c)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Eight of these 10 stories were published in literary magazines or on online fiction sites. Bomer writes about men and women disillusioned by the comparison between their fantasies and the real-life choices that they make. Set in cities, vacation destinations, and college towns, these are stories of betrayal and ennui, of despair engendered by the traumas of daily life. Many of her hard-to-like characters are surrounded by equally unlikeable people. The deftness of character portrayal will ensure that readers continue to work through the stories despite the heaviness of their subjects. Stories such as “A Galloping Infection,” in which a man refuses to interrupt his vacation to take his sick wife to the doctor, and “The Second Son,” which vividly depicts details of the ends of two pregnancies, promise one ending while surprising with another. Other stories have open-ended conclusions, leaving threads unfinished and readers guessing. Buy this for fans of character-driven fiction, for lovers of Roth and Updike, and for flourishing short story collections. --Ellen Loughran
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More About the Author
I'm a writer and the publisher of Sententia Books. My collection of stories, BABY And Other Stories, is out by Word Riot Press and my novel NINE MONTHS, is forthcoming from Soho Press in the fall 2012.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Bomer's book was recommended to me by a friend. I read mostly historical biography's so Baby was out of my domain. The innocuous title, I must admit, caught me a little off guard. I was expecting something that perhaps could lull me to sleep. This was not the case.
I started the book on a late Friday evening and finished early Saturday morning. Far from what I thought the title hinted at in terms of the content, Bomer took me into a land of contemporary human suffering and the psychology that motivates people to act in reaction to their given circumstances.
From a analytical perspective Bomer takes the "Baby" and uses that, in her series of short stories, as a fulcrum to test the characters in her book. She did not hold back. In her work, Bomer weaves all the tangential elements of relationships. She explores the roles of sex, economics, education, sibling rivalry, paternal interference and class mobility in away that is shockingly accurate.
And disturbing. Yes, disturbing. The characters are believable and well developed. Bomer also plays with the reader by not fully resolving the conflicts entirely but leaving the reader only to speculate on how things ultimately turn out. I felt it was like hear a musician playing a scale and leaving the last note out - leaving it to me to mentally play the last note.
This book is not for the faint of heart. There is some rather explicit sexual content. The sexual content however is absolutely necessary to understanding the motivation of her characters and the pain that they are experiencing.
Bomer is a writer. No question about it. She put on paper the dark truths that exist on some conscious level (which are neatly put in some corner of the mind) and guides the reader on how those thoughts unwittingly command her characters to act.
Would I recommend this book to someone? Already have.
I started the book on a late Friday evening and finished early Saturday morning. Far from what I thought the title hinted at in terms of the content, Bomer took me into a land of contemporary human suffering and the psychology that motivates people to act in reaction to their given circumstances.
From a analytical perspective Bomer takes the "Baby" and uses that, in her series of short stories, as a fulcrum to test the characters in her book. She did not hold back. In her work, Bomer weaves all the tangential elements of relationships. She explores the roles of sex, economics, education, sibling rivalry, paternal interference and class mobility in away that is shockingly accurate.
And disturbing. Yes, disturbing. The characters are believable and well developed. Bomer also plays with the reader by not fully resolving the conflicts entirely but leaving the reader only to speculate on how things ultimately turn out. I felt it was like hear a musician playing a scale and leaving the last note out - leaving it to me to mentally play the last note.
This book is not for the faint of heart. There is some rather explicit sexual content. The sexual content however is absolutely necessary to understanding the motivation of her characters and the pain that they are experiencing.
Bomer is a writer. No question about it. She put on paper the dark truths that exist on some conscious level (which are neatly put in some corner of the mind) and guides the reader on how those thoughts unwittingly command her characters to act.
Would I recommend this book to someone? Already have.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first heard about Ms. Bomer's book of short stories in an online magazine article. I was intrigued enough that I purchased the book. I was not disappointed. I found the book to be filled with short stories that were angry, despairing, bitter, raw and dissolute.
Many stories deal with the angst and existential loneliness of people, even (and maybe especially) those in relationships. Those with families feel alienated and frightened. Nothing comes out like expected and the ideal does not exist except as a fleeting idea.
The characters are mostly affluent and educated people, disenchanted with their lives and their families. They are graduates of Smith, Middlebury, and Connecticut College. Unlike the wonderful writers Donald Ray Pollack and Raymond Carver who write about the poor and disenfranchised, and the cultural calamities that they face, Bomer examines the dysfunction and poverty of life of the more affluent and educated.
There is the wife who can't get her husband to leave home until she holds a knife to her neck and threatens to kill herself, the man who believes that his life's trauma results from having to watch his wife give birth. There is a woman trapped in a loveless marriage, governed by her own anger and alcoholism. She can only feel anger, rage, resentment and disappointment. These are typical feelings shared by many of the characters that people Bomer's stories.
Many of the stories deal with the dynamics of marriage once children are present. There is the family where one child 'belongs' to the father and the other to the mother. In another story, the father is the odd man out. In yet another, a mother tries to appease the child she loves by paying more attention to the child she loves less.
Almost all these stories deal with imploding families, with dynamics so mercurial and devastating that the reader wants to hold on to their chair for dear life. This is a book to savor. It definitely will stay with you whether you want it to or not. It is powerful, bold and strong. Don't miss this book. Thank you Paula Bomer!
Many stories deal with the angst and existential loneliness of people, even (and maybe especially) those in relationships. Those with families feel alienated and frightened. Nothing comes out like expected and the ideal does not exist except as a fleeting idea.
The characters are mostly affluent and educated people, disenchanted with their lives and their families. They are graduates of Smith, Middlebury, and Connecticut College. Unlike the wonderful writers Donald Ray Pollack and Raymond Carver who write about the poor and disenfranchised, and the cultural calamities that they face, Bomer examines the dysfunction and poverty of life of the more affluent and educated.
There is the wife who can't get her husband to leave home until she holds a knife to her neck and threatens to kill herself, the man who believes that his life's trauma results from having to watch his wife give birth. There is a woman trapped in a loveless marriage, governed by her own anger and alcoholism. She can only feel anger, rage, resentment and disappointment. These are typical feelings shared by many of the characters that people Bomer's stories.
Many of the stories deal with the dynamics of marriage once children are present. There is the family where one child 'belongs' to the father and the other to the mother. In another story, the father is the odd man out. In yet another, a mother tries to appease the child she loves by paying more attention to the child she loves less.
Almost all these stories deal with imploding families, with dynamics so mercurial and devastating that the reader wants to hold on to their chair for dear life. This is a book to savor. It definitely will stay with you whether you want it to or not. It is powerful, bold and strong. Don't miss this book. Thank you Paula Bomer!
By H. Fleming
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
After I finished reading this book I actually felt rattled. It's such a brutal, unflinching, dark yet honest look at family life. I struggled between wanting to put it down and reading the same paragraph over and over in awe of her fantastic writing.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brutal
Paula Bomer scares people because she talks about things that most likely has entered every person's mind, especially women, whether we want to admit it or not. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Melanie Page
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is a knockout
This book is why I read fiction. To examine the inner life of other human beings. To measure the depth and height of our emotions. And to awaken from a strange and perfect dream. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Pat Pujolas
4.0 out of 5 stars
A gut wrenching book
After reading the first story, was not sure I wanted to continue .. Glad I did ...Paula Bomer gives the reader a raw world of emotions, and feelings seldom seen.... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Herschel
5.0 out of 5 stars
INTENSE, but a good intense!
Paula Bomer is a brave writer and these stories will move you, stun you, and make you stop and think about everything that really matters. Don't be afraid, go ahead and read them. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Jessica Anya Blau, author, DRINKING CLOSER TO HOME
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Baby Wails
In spare and unsparing prose, Paula Boer has written a dark, brilliant collection of stories that's as compelling as good gossip, as insightful as a wise therapist.
Published on March 30, 2011 by Thelma Adams
5.0 out of 5 stars
trying to be perfect
These stories reveal what many of us mothers think about caring for a child but only say outloud when no one else can hear. Read more
Published on March 27, 2011 by Floydene Lesher
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