Leah, New Hampshire: The Collected Stories of Thomas Williams (A Graywolf Discovery) [Paperback]

Thomas Williams (Author), John Irving (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1993 | Series: A Graywolf Discovery

A posthumous collection of short stories, the majority of which appeared in either The New Yorker or Esquire. Williams was nominated for the National Book Award in 1960 for Town Burning and won the Award in 1978 for The Hair of Harold Roux. His last novel, The Moon Pinnace (1986), was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. 15,000 pr int.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At first it seems that all the characters in the 15 superior stories collected here are trapped: they're not exactly unhappy, but something is wrong with their picture. The lot of them--the son who takes a fearful plane trip to put his mother's affairs in order before she dies; three skiers on the same mountain trying to retrieve lost love--are caught in a very familiar snare, and it can only be called being human. These tales, set against the backdrop of a fictional but true-to-life New England town, show the late National Book Award winner's top form (a plainspokenness that uncannily reveals a breathtaking image or sudden truth) as well as his straining (several disquisitions on the ethics of hunting). When Williams ( The Moon Pinnace ) writes in "The Survivors," about a boy's bicycle as tool of death, "It was too familiar, not the instrument of the drama we wanted in our lives," he proves his particular strength--the ability to use the writer's sensibility to render significance from what we all have known.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In his introduction to this posthumous collection of short stories by his former teacher and National Book Award Winner ( The Hair of Harold Roux , LJ 6/1/74), John Irving calls Williams "very much a New Hampshire man." With his simple but eloquent prose, Williams indeed exhibits great sympathy for the people and land of his adopted state. But even more, he understands the fragility of life, its deep sorrows, its enduring beauty and richness. Perhaps the author himself puts it best in the story of "Horned Pouts Are Evil": "The closer we get to nature . . . the more we recognize ourselves as part of its infinite patience, its cruelty and beauty. Without the knowledge of danger, how can we aspire to be alive? We must keep our senses quivering." Williams's heroes and heroines are, above all else, survivors, people who through a sense of loss come to understand, consciously or unconsciously, this great truth. Most of these 15 stories first appeared in Esquire or The New Yorker in the Fifties and Sixties. It is good, at last, to have them all in one place. An excellent choice for any public or academic library.
- David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Graywolf Pr (November 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555971911
• ISBN-13: 978-1555971915
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,515,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fictional town, real emotions, November 29, 2003

By 

Mary E. Sibley (Carneys Point, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Leah, New Hampshire: The Collected Stories of Thomas Williams (A Graywolf Discovery) (Paperback)

The book has an introduction by John Irving. Leah is a fictional town. Thomas Williams was a longtime resident of New Hampshire. The author's introduction refers to his childhood practice of reading the Bible.

In "Goose Pond" a new widower visits Leah where he spent his youth and young married life. He kills a doe with a bow and arrow. In the next story it is observed that mothers have to be half policemen, half indentured servants. The ski instructor at the resort the mother and son end up in is past forty and over-weight. He thinks that he is too jaded to seriously pursue the mother of the story. When he gains the courage to go after the woman, Margaret, she is visited at the resort by her former husband who is particularly needy. The ski professional wonders what he has done in this world except have a pretty good time.

A teacher finds that he cannot enter the classroom. Then he destroys himself with a firearm. His obituary omits the information that he was a fairly good teacher until he tired of things. The stories are about people who survive just barely the collapse of snowforts, bad marriages, encounters with the past, disclosures of unease.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A throwback book of men's short stories., April 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Leah, New Hampshire: The Collected Stories of Thomas Williams (A Graywolf Discovery) (Paperback)

This is one of my favorite collection of short stories. If you like Hemingway's short stories and if you live or like to visit New England you will love these stories.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating look at an American town., April 4, 2000

By 

Russell Nelson (Mobile, Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leah, New Hampshire: The Collected Stories of Thomas Williams (A Graywolf Discovery) (Paperback)

Thomas Williams blends intricate prose with real skill for story-telling. His accounts of Leah bring the town to life, filling it with vibrant characters and a tangible spirit of the northeastern United States.