A literary collection by a Grammy Award-winning country artist is made up of poetry and autobiographical writings that consider such topics as art, motherhood, spirituality, and performance. 25,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo. Tour.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The singer/lyricist whose words put a cerebral edge on country-and-western music moves into fiction with this impressive collection of nine short stories. Cash varies modes here, including epistolary tales ("A Week at the Gore") and prose-poems ("Shelly's Voices"; "The Arc of Loneliness") as well as traditional stories. Each tale is told in the first person, except "Part Girl," the strongest of the lot, which details how Elsa, a middle-aged teacher traversing Europe, comes to understand that the passage of time damages not only monuments but also innocence. Also worthy is the title story, the narrator of which is a musician who finds each of her performances to be a "nightly crucible and reflecting pool." In contrast, the prose poems are relatively inaccessible and beg to be reset in meter. With persistent earnestness, if not skill, Cash takes the reader through women's lives of raw-nerved wakefulness and nightmarish dreaminess. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Readers may be just a tad skeptical about this slender volume of short fiction by Cash, a singer who topped the country charts for a decade. But if you've followed Cash's career, you know that she has left the country spotlight to record her own heartfelt compositions, and her talent as a lyricist translates beautifully into short fiction. The brief but polished, emotionally resonant tales collected here possess the perfect timing, fluid expressiveness, and subtle circularity of ballads. Several stories reflect Cash's life as a performer as well as the mother of three daughters, but Cash is imaginative and each of her female protagonists has a distinctive persona and uniquely vivid inner life. A young acting student abruptly casts off her crippling self-consciousness; a wonderfully confident mother of teenage daughters exults in their bond; another mother goes to Europe on her own to "give birth to her middle-aged self" ; and in the poignant title story, a woman has nightmares about not being able to save her child from drowning. Yes, motherhood, with all its fears and blissfulness, is the key theme here (Cash has dedicated these stories to her children), but motherhood as seen by a woman who understands loneliness and the price of being yourself. Wise, funny, and eloquent, Cash's stories are as deeply affecting as her songs. Donna Seaman
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More About the Author
Rosanne Cash's fourteen albums have charted eleven number-one singles. She is the author of Bodies of Water and the children's book Penelope Jane: A Fairy's Tale. Her essays and fiction have appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and New York magazine. She lives in New York City with her husband, John Leventhal, and her children.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Keeping her head above the water!,
By
This review is from: Bodies of Water (Paperback)
Though I must admit that I was one of the skeptical ones about how much I could enjoy this book, Rosie surprised me with her gift for writing that extends beyond her music. The book is short; only 133 pages long and contains nine shorts written about life, from a woman's point of view. My personal favorites are "The Arc of Lonliness," "Bodies of Water," "A Week At The Gore," and "Dinner." The other reviews go a little deeper into what the stories are about, so at the risk of not being repetitive, I won't go nto that. I'll only say that if you get a chance to track down a copy of this book, do not miss out. I am now seeking out her second collection!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five stars for "Shelly's Voices" alone...,
By Anais Nin "Zepora" (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bodies of Water (Paperback)
It is true that in her first book of short stories, Rosanne Cash writes about the experiences of women...childbirth, relationships, the passage of time. However, I find it interesting that reviewers write with praise about the "stories of womanhood" in such a cliched and politically correct choice of words, and yet suggest that some of stories are "show-biz confessions". "The Dinner" is praised as the one of the stongest stories, yet I find that although it may be cleverly written, it is self-conscious and somewhat stiff. Her most eloquent and exquisite stories, by far, are born when she dares to reach deep, deep down and write with heartbreaking beauty about the spirit and soul of childhood, the fine line we all walk between "normal" and "insane" (though we are so busy not wanting to admit it), and not only the true bond so obviously present with her own daughters, but to that creature most of us have lost touch with, the innocent, the wounded one, the Deity. For me, "Shelly's Voices" is one of the strongest pieces, simply because it is the most naked, the least "consciously writerish". In that series of tableaux, Cash touches upon the truth of everything, she touches the truth about the deepest wound of all, our brutal separation from our natural sense of entitlement to love and safety, and the consequences we suffer as a result of that. Although there are many other sensitive and lovely moments in the book, and some amusing ones, and some wise ones, "Shelly's Voices" alone is worth the price...the full price. Too bad to see this book reduced to the 97 cent bin...
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Thinking Woman's Book of Short Stories,
By
This review is from: Bodies of Water (Hardcover)
This book proves that Roseanne Cash is not only a prolific songwriter, but also a gifted writer. She gives the reader brief glimpses into the lives of everyday women with depth, insight, and feeling. The stories are timeless and since purchasing this collection several years ago, I have re read more than once and they are always fresh. Women are presented as strong and capable and knowing. I look forward to Roseanne Cash writing another collection.
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