Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Lauren Groff (Author), Susan Ericksen (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 2009

Lauren Groff presents nine stories of astonishing insight and variety, each revealing a resonant drama within the life of a twentieth-century American woman.In "Sir Fleeting," a Midwestern farm girl on her honeymoon in Argentina falls into lifelong lust for a French playboy. In "Blythe," an attorney who has become a stay-at-home mother takes a night class in poetry and meets another full-time mother, one whose charismatic brilliance changes everything. In "The Wife of the Dictator," that eponymous wife ("brought back...from [the dictator's] last visit to America") grows more desperately, menacingly isolated every day. In "Delicate Edible Birds," a group of war correspondents-a lone, high-spirited woman among them-falls prey to a brutal farmer while fleeing Nazis in the French countryside. And in "Lucky Chow Fun," Groff returns to Templeton, the setting of her first book, for revelations about the darkness within even that idyllic small town.In some of these stories, enormous changes happen in an instant. In others, transformations occur across a lifetime-or several lifetimes. Throughout the collection, Groff displays particular and vivid preoccupations. Crime is a motif-sex crimes, a possible murder, crimes of the heart. Love troubles occur in every story-love in alcoholism, in adultery, in a flood, even in the great flu epidemic of 1918. Some of the love has depths that are understood too late; some of the love is shallow and also understood too late. And mastery is a theme-Groff's women swim and twirl batons, become poets, or try and try again to achieve the inner strength to exercise personal freedom.Overall, these stories announce a notable new literary master. Dazzlingly original and confident, Delicate Edible Birds will further Groff's growing reputation as one of the foremost talents of her generation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Groff follows up The Monsters of Templeton with this innovative and beautifully written collection that covers a wide swath of humanity, from east coast resort towns, to the early 20th century flu epidemic, to WWII Europe. In "Lucky Chow Fun," the narrator, an ungainly but wise 17-year-old girl, watches over her younger sister after their father leaves and their mother tunes out. In "Watershed," a woman reunites with a man and moves back to her hometown, but their happiness is short-lived when a freak accident leaves her husband comatose. Not all stories are gems-the supernatural elements in "Fugue," about a couple tending to a semi-abandoned hotel, don't quite work, while "Blythe," about a housewife who befriends a bipolar eccentric in a poetry class, feels half-baked. Even in the less successful stories, Groff's prose is lovely, and when she nails a story-like the title story about journalists fleeing Nazi-occupied Paris-the results are sublime.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Following the publication of Groff’s first novel, The Monsters of Templeton (2008), comes this collection of nine short stories, six of which have never been published. The richly conceived, finely detailed stories offer portraits of smart, daring women who are in search of, in thrall to, or disillusioned by love. In “Lucky Chow Fun,” winner of a Pushcart Prize, Groff returns to the town of Templeton to tell the story of a high-school swimmer who uncovers the sordid sexual secrets of her seemingly idyllic small town. “L. DeBard and Aliette,” included in the latest edition of Best American Short Stories, is a reimagining of the love story of Abelard and Héloïse that sees the couple recast as an Olympic swimmer and his pupil, both of whom suffer through the flu epidemic of 1918. And in the title story, an unconventional female reporter, fleeing the Nazis in rural France along with a band of male correspondents, must strike a sordid bargain with a brutal farmer to secure their safe passage. Vivid tales from a gifted young writer who continues to surprise. --Joanne Wilkinson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged,Unabridged CD edition (February 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140011070X
• ISBN-13: 978-1400110704
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,105,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lauren Groff was born in 1978 in Cooperstown, N.Y. She graduated from Amherst College and has an MFA in fiction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her short stories have appeared in a number of journals, including the New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, One Story, and Subtropics, and in the anthologies Best American Short Stories 2007 and Best American Short Stories 2010, Pushcart Prize XXXII, and Best New American Voices 2008. A story will be included in the 2012 edition of PEN/ O. Henry Prize Stories. She was awarded the Axton Fellowship in Fiction at the University of Louisville, and has had residencies and fellowships at Yaddo, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and Ragdale.

Lauren's first novel, The Monsters of Templeton, published in February 2008, was a New York Times and Booksense bestseller, and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers. Her second book, Delicate Edible Birds, is a collection of stories. Her second novel, Arcadia, will be out in March 2012.

She lives in Gainesville, Florida with her husband and two sons. Her website is www.laurengroff.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Collection of Varied Stories about Women, February 16, 2009

By 

B. A. Chaney (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Delicate Edible Birds: And Other Stories (Hardcover)

Lauren Groff's "Delicate Edible Birds" is a collection of nine short stories that deal with the intimate details of women's lives in the face of adversity. Unlike many story collections, each of Groff's stories is unique--they are all told by women of different ages, perspectives, and stations in life--so you don't feel like you are reading the same short story retold multiple times in a single volume. Groff gives each of her women a strong narrative voice, rich with the emotions attached to their situations.

My favorite stories in this volume included Lucky Chow Fun, in which a small town ripped apart by a sex scandal is chronicled by a high school girl; Majorette, which traces the life of an under-appreciated young woman as she uses baton twirling to aid her growth into a capable woman who raises a confident daughter; and Watershed, the story of a reckless love affair that ends in tragedy. All of the stories in this volume are as different and rich as these three, and they each leave you wishing for just a little bit longer glimpse into these women's lives.

I would recommend this volume of short stories to anyone who enjoys reading stories about strong women in the face of adversity. These stories are rich and memorable. I can't wait to see what is next from the obviously talented Groff.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost all of the short stories in this collection somehow manage to cover as broad and bold a canvas as any novel, February 25, 2009

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Delicate Edible Birds: And Other Stories (Hardcover)

THE MONSTERS OF TEMPLETON, in which Lauren Groff adroitly reimagined her hometown of Cooperstown, New York, and the novels of James Fenimore Cooper, was one of the most widely acclaimed debut novels of 2008. Now Groff follows up its success with DELICATE EDIBLE BIRDS. Almost all of the short stories in this collection somehow manage to cover as broad and bold a canvas as any novel, often exploring the shape of a whole life in just a few dozen pages.

Not surprisingly, given Groff's obvious affinity for history demonstrated in THE MONSTERS OF TEMPLETON, the stories collected here range widely over time and place, which helps contribute to the expansive feel of her short fiction. The opening story, "Lucky Chow Fun," takes place in Groff's fictional Templeton and is set in the present or the very recent past; others, however, explore the ravages of the 1918 influenza epidemic, the mixed blessings of the 1970s women's movement, the dread enfolding Paris's denizens during the Nazi invasion in World War II, and even the vicissitudes of fortune among the privileged classes in an unnamed dictatorship.

Unlike much short fiction, which often conveys a turning point through a single encounter, utterance or even image, Groff's stories frequently find their meaning in the shape of a whole life, reading more like imagined biographies than typical modern short stories. Groff's gift is in imparting meaning and beauty to what could be mere chronicles.

"Majorette," for example, traces the fortunes of three generations of women in the same family, vividly illustrating how their socially acceptable options --- ranging from having a large number of children at a young age to starring as a baton twirler to excelling on the volleyball court --- influence their future directions and their possibilities for happiness." In "Sir Fleeting," a woman's history of failed relationships is contrasted with (and perhaps perpetuated by) her periodic encounters with a mysterious, almost unbelievably romantic figure. In "Blythe," a lonely, bored housewife fails to live up to her own potential when she becomes entangled with Blythe, a beautiful, creative but hopelessly imbalanced young mother when both take a poetry course. The ravages of Blythe's emotional demands on her friends and family are traced over the course of years.

As in "Blythe," a current of sadness and tragedy runs through many of the stories, often relating to the elusiveness of love. In "L. DeBard and Aliette," a champion swimmer and poet, and his pupil --- a fragile, crippled heiress --- secretly fall in love, only to be thwarted by obstacles both natural and human-made. Likewise, "Watershed" is a heartbreaking story about a woman who, after several failed relationships in the big city, returns to her small town and marries a childhood friend, only to perpetuate discord that results in tragedy.

The protagonist in "Watershed" is a storyteller whose pastime is "selecting a few strands from many and weaving them into cloth," but whose penchant for story still can't make sense of the tragedy that befalls her young family. Many of Groff's female heroines share this desire to comprehend the world through story. The young narrator of "Lucky Chow Fun" views her experience through the lens of horrifically dark fairy tales. In the title story, probably the strongest one of the collection, a group of stranded journalists try to find meaning in the unimaginable horrors of war.

These characters often turn to story to find richness, solace and meaning in both ordinary and extraordinary circumstances --- much like Groff herself.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Immensely talented young writer, February 20, 2009

By 

Vesuvius At Home (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Delicate Edible Birds: And Other Stories (Hardcover)

I hate writing reviews. But I had to do this one. I read Groff's "Monsters of Templeton" and loved it. I was a little disappointed to hear her next book was going to be short stories. I don't normally read short stories, but I picked this up on the strength of some of the reviews it was getting.

Groff is a marvelous writer. She doesn't just write, she crafts each sentence beautifully and with care. Her writing itself is like a delicate, edible bird. Perfect and lovely and a joy to devour. The stories each have strong characters with haunting stories to tell. Each little gem gives you something to ponder. Groff's stories won't leave you quickly.

I hate writing reviews because it's hard for me to sum up why I like or don't like a book. Groff is definitely worth your time. The stories draw you in with their lovely, vivid imagery and intriguing characters. I didn't put this book down for two days. If you like Alice Hoffman, I recommend it especially.