Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories [Paperback]

Edith Pearlman (Author), Ann Patchett (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 2011

In this sumptuous offering, one of our premier storytellers provides a feast for fiction aficionados. Spanning four decades and three prize-winning collections, these twenty-one vintage selected stories and thirteen scintillating new ones take us around the world, from Jerusalem to Central America, from tsarist Russia to London during the Blitz, from central Europe to Manhattan, and from the Maine coast to Godolphin, Massachusetts, a fictional suburb of Boston. These charged locales, and the lives of the endlessly varied characters within them, are evoked with a tenderness and incisiveness found in only our most observant seers.

No matter the situation in which her characters find themselves -- an unforeseen love affair between adolescent cousins, a lifetime of memories unearthed by an elderly couple's decision to shoplift, the deathbed secret of a young girl's forbidden forest tryst with the tsar, the danger that befalls a wealthy couple's child in a European inn of misfits -- Edith Pearlman conveys their experience with wit and aplomb, with relentless but clear-eyed optimism, and with a supple prose that reminds us, sentence by sentence, page by page, of the gifts our greatest verbal innovators can bestow.

Binocular Vision reveals a true American original, a master of the story, showing us, with her classic sensibility and lasting artistry, the cruelties, the longings, and the rituals that connect human beings across space and time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A finely tuned collection by writer's writer Pearlman combines the best of previous collections (How to Fall; etc.) with austere, polished new work. Pearlman's characters for the most part are stiff-upper-lipped Northeasterners who take what comes and don't grumble: in "The Noncombatant," Richard, a 49-year-old doctor suffering gravely from cancer during the tail end of WWII, rages quietly in his small Cape Cod town as celebrations erupt and memories of the wasted lives of the dead are swept away. A fictional Godolphin, Mass., is the setting for many of the stories, such as "Rules," in which the well-meaning staff at a soup kitchen try not to pry into the lives of the "cheats and crazies, drunks and dealers" who frequent the place. "Hanging Fire" is a perfectly crafted story about a 21-year-old college graduate, Nancy, on the cusp of embarking on life and certain only of her obligation to herself. The tale of retired gastroenterologist Cornelia Fitch in "Self-Reliance" reads like the fulfillment of Nancy's own self-determined trajectory: after a successful career, she determines how she wants to leave this life: with dignity and a wink. This should win new converts for Pearlman. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* There is a vast difference between reading Pearlman’s stories in a magazine or anthology and reading this collection. In settings ranging from unnamed South American countries to the Boston suburbs, from the current day to the last century (e.g., the Russian Revolution, WWII), depictions of people, places, and manners are so perfect that the stories become totally immersive. The characters, always interesting, are limned just as strongly whether female or male, young or old. The Latin American minister of health (called the Cow by her enemies) in “Vaquita” and the old man studying Japanese at age 75 in “Relic and Type” both linger in memory long after the book is closed. Stylistically, the stories are complex in their use of language, with technique incorporated seamlessly to engage and provoke readers. Many describe the lives of Jews who have integrated into the modern world and who examine the resonance of Judaism in their lives. The stories’ disparate lengths are no impediment to these qualities. The shorter “The Story” is just as involving as the longer “Binocular Vision.” Give this wonderful collection to fans of such classic short story writers as Andre Dubus and Alice Munro and novelists like Nicole Krauss. They will thank you. --Ellen Loughran

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Lookout Books; 1St Edition edition (January 11, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982338295
• ISBN-13: 978-0982338292
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Edith Pearlman is the recipient of the 2011 PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in the art of short fiction. Her most recent collection, Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories, won the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction, the Julia Ward Howe Prize, and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award, and was named ForeWord Book of the Year and a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and The Story Prize. She has published more than 250 works in national magazines and anthologies, including Best American Short Stories, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, New Stories from the South, and The Pushcart Prize, and three previous story collections: Vaquita, winner of the Drue Heinz Prize for Literature, Love Among the Greats, winner of the Spokane Fiction Award, and How to Fall, winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 56 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece October 21, 2011

By aidel

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

My first exposure to the incredibly brilliant Edith Pearlman came in the form of her collection Binocular Vision. I want very much to write a helpful, detailed review but honestly I am nearly speechless in the face of such perfection. This writer sees the world with unfettered, original eyes. Her prose is not only flawless but elegant. Somehow, she has the chutzpah to capture the truth of how unglamorous life really is, while surprises -- so original that your heart skips a beat -- wait on every page. Pearlman is incredibly adept at mastering multiple points of view. Many good writers may do one thing very well and stick to their schtick and write lots of perfectly good stories or novels. Part of Pearlman's genius is that she is as comfortable as an eleven year old as she is at forty, or seventy, or whatever perspective unfolds in the story. She is able to both give the reader a real sense of the complexity of a situation while keeping it simple. When you finish reading (and re-reading) this book, you will put it on your shelf next to Chekhov. In fact, she is better than Chekhov. Nothing I can say will adequately prepare you for the genius of Edith Pearlman. So stop wasting your time on reviews, buy the book, and when it comes, call in sick to work and read. Every story will give you the pleasure of discovering something true. Edith Pearlman, thank you.

54 of 64 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars each story is a life on the page March 28, 2011

By shanarufus

Format:Paperback

I have not read all of the stories yet. I am not reading in order. Alongside other reading I am engaged in, every day I open Binocular Vision randomly, and that is the story I read that day. It takes an act of will to keep it to just one. I have probably read 20 stories (a little more than half) and wish there were hundreds still to read. Each one is a life on the page. They are gems, to describe them using an overused and unoriginal word. But gems they are, in 8 or 10 or 15 pages. In each story more than one time, I am stopped cold in my reading. I have to write sentences in my book journal so I can have those amazing sentences to read again sometime. How did I never discover Pearlman before the publication of this book? Well, now I know who she is and what she can do.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking and Wonderful Short Fiction ! November 6, 2011

By Christopher Barrett TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I am an avid short fiction reader and subscribe to Paris Review and other literary periodicals, so I am surprised that I have not run across more of her stories in the past. This is a wonderful collection to be nominated for a National Book Award, and these are some of the best short stories from a modern English speaking author in a few years. Her writing is so fluid and wonderful. She enlightens the reader, guides the reader into the story; never seems to thrust the story upon the reader or push the reader. She never writes as if preaching or teaching some lesson, but there are lessons to be learned.

The stories are amazing and fluid, and the reader is quickly, nay instantly taken into the world of the story. I fell in love with characters in moments, which is rare indeed for a short story. I particularly enjoyed 'The Noncombatant'. Though I was hooked with the very first story in the collection: 'Inbound'.

*** All you have to do is read "Tess" and you will be unable to resist reading more of this wonderful work. ***

Not since J.D. Salinger have I found a collection of short fiction this utterly engaging, reflective, and rewarding. I look forward to more of her work in the future. She would have my nod for National Book Award for sure!

Update: Upon reading more about this author I discovered that she has won O. Henry awards, a Pushcart prize, that she is older than I thought (judging by her writing style that is), she has some previous works, and also that she has had stories appear in many periodicals, including Ploughshares. I look forward to reading more of her work.

Update: Pearlman won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. You can Google NY Times Pearlman Award for more on the story. I for one am very pleased with her award, and I still consider this the best of the National Book Award Nominees for 2011.