A Chapter From Her Upbringing [Paperback]

Ivy Goodman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...these are stories that are destined to endure. This is an author who deserves wide appreciation." -- Beth Kephart, The Pennsylvania Gazette, May/June 2001

"Goodman is going places....A woman reading this book could wonder whether the next story in it will include her." -- The Baltimore Sun, March 18, 2001

"Ivy Goodman...should be widely read. Proof lies in her latest short story collection, A Chapter From Her Upbringing." -- Associated Press, March 26, 2001

From the Publisher

From Jayne Anne Phillips: "Dark, funny, and dangerous with talent, A Chapter from Her Upbringing reads like a contemporary cross between Thurber and Kafka: quietly explosive, surreally persuasive, absolutely original."

From Stephen Dixon: "No story collection in years has knocked me for a loop as this one has. It's fast and furious and funny, as well as being highly original serious literature."

Product Details

• Paperback: 223 pages
• Publisher: Carnegie Mellon Univ Pr (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887483445
• ISBN-13: 978-0887483448
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,598,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A real thing, at last!, June 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Chapter From Her Upbringing (Paperback)

This is a wonderful collection of stories! What struck me, over and over, was the feeling that someone had finally written how life really happens and feels. All of the stories I've read and even liked in recent years--including the brutally blank or bleak ones--suddenly seemed exposed as still full of exaggeration and driven by stock formulas. So, devastating as many of Ivy Goodman's stories are-and there are some heavyweight knockouts here--they're also remarkably refreshing; graceful, generous, and tough; embedded everywhere with sharp insights. They're loyal to the human story even in its irresolutions--not in the form of snooty alienation or post-structuralist pretensions, just a respect for craving and spite and shyness, and for all the things in life that for some reason don't happen.

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark, Comic, Brilliant!!, April 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Chapter From Her Upbringing (Paperback)

I loved this book! Ivy Goodman, author of the prizewinning short story collection "Heart Failure," writes with a dark and cutting comic edge that in the end proves to be regenerative and uplifting, as great prose writing always proves to be. There's an eerie psychological perspicuity in her inimitable stories about loss, death, and violation. I especially loved "Eating Him Alive," an updated riff on Kafka's "The Hunger Artist"; and "In Consequence," a chilling story that alternates point of view between grandmother and grandson in a family that's gone awry. The scene with the father's teeth took my breath away! If you don't know Goodman's fiction, you've got a treat in store for you. Can't wait for her next book!