Prayers of an Accidental Nature [Paperback]

Debra Di Blasi (Author), Debra DiBlasi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1999

Stylistically innovative fiction that tests the borders of gender and class issues, skirting the edge of post-modern erotica.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The self-indulgent narrators of these dozen clever, passionate stories find their lives stalled by sexual possessiveness, mistrust and jealousy. Women afraid of getting older cling to younger lovers, and often the gap is made wider by cultural differences: young South American men leave insecure gringas once steamy romance turns into just so much hot water. In the witty and engaging "I Am Telling You Lies," a married couple befriend an ordinary-looking student from Bolivia with a penchant for telling fibs. In "An Interview with My Husband," a vulnerable wife questions her younger, Argentinean husband's fidelity. To get at the truth, she resorts to game playing while correcting his grammar. "Pavlov's Smile" details another cross-cultural triangle, with an American woman juggling two men from Argentina. The author veers from familiar terrain in the dark fable "An Obscure Geography," wherein a victimized eighth-grade teacher gets back at her obnoxious young tormentor. The title story, a polished, witty satire in the style of Wharton or James, features a blue-blooded young man and his unconventional girlfriend as they meet his snobbish relatives, who inevitably thwart the young couple's plan to wed. Though the collection is uneven, with short pieces like "Where All Things Converge" and "Our Perversions" seeming more like erotic tone poems than fully realized fictions, Di Blasi's themes of sexual obsession, physical beauty and lost love ignite this notable effort to define the perils of intimacy.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is a most depressing group of short stories, populated by self-obsessed, self-loathing characters. Di Blasi (Drought & Say What You Like, New Directions, 1997) begins with "The Season's Collection," a story told by a recently released psychiatric patient who rants against her sister/caregiver when she can keep her thoughts on track. In "Interview with My Husband," a couple uses the conceit of an interview because they don't have enough of a relationship to sustain them through the process of breaking up. A very short story, "Chairman of the Board," presents the thoughts of a dying man who was too important to stop for red lights. And there are more like this. Save your money.ADebbie Bogenschutz, Cincinnati Technical Coll., OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Coffee House Press; First edition. edition (April 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566890837
• ISBN-13: 978-1566890830
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,851,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Debra Di Blasi (www.debradiblasi.com) is founding publisher of Jaded Ibis Press and president of Jaded Ibis Productions (jadedibisproductions.com). She also curates mini-exhibitions of work by emerging artists, and frequently teaches and lectures on topics related to 21st Century narrative forms.

In addition to her publishing role, Debra is an award-winning multi-genre writer and artist whose books include The Jirí Chronicles & Other Fictions (FC2/University of Alabama Press); Drought & Say What You Like (New Directions; New York); Prayers of an Accidental Nature (Coffee House Press; Minneapolis), What the Body Requires (Jaded Ibis); and Skin of the Sun (forthcoming). She has been favorably reviewed in The New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, Review of Contemporary Fiction, and in many other publications.

Awards include a James C. McCormick Fellowship in Fiction from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, Thorpe Menn Book Award, Cinovation Screenwriting Award, and Diagram Innovative Fiction Award.

Her writing has been published in a many leading anthologies of innovative and experimental writing and has been adapted to film, radio, theatre, and audio CD in the U.S. and abroad. Her essays, art reviews and articles can be found in a variety of international, national and regional publications.

The short film based on her novella Drought was directed by Lisa Moncure and won a host of national and international awards, including being only six US films invited to the Universe Elle section of the 2000 Cannes International Film Festival. Her visual art has been exhibited at galleries and museums in the U.S. and virtually.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid not brilliant, June 30, 2000

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prayers of an Accidental Nature (Paperback)

Di Blasi's Drought set up expectations that few authors can fulfill - including Di Blasi. In this collection, however, the author has shown herself willing to experiment with a variety of styles, willing to stretch herself.

Several of the stories are memorable - An Obscure Geography and I Am Telling You Lies - are examples. An Obscure Geography is set in the eighth grade in a poor rural community; the author captures some of the more obscure nature of the students. I Am Telling You Lies reveals how a Latin American student deals with his family expectations and his physical appearance.

Two of the stories are "short shorts" - Fog misses the mark for this form while Chairman of the Board succeeds.

All in all this collection is worth reading. Di Blasi is an author worth watching. I await the day this is labeled one of her "lesser" works for she has proven herself to be very talented.

4.0 out of 5 stars New York Times Book Review, November 17, 2011

By 

Debra Di Blasi "fiction writer, screenwriter,... (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Prayers of an Accidental Nature (Paperback)

"Sex doesn't equal love -- or does it? If it doesn't, then why do we expend so much energy on merging our bodies with others' while we so rarely connect in spirit? If it does, then why isn't sex enough to bind two people together against the world's insistence on ripping them apart? Such questions are among the chief preoccupations of ''Prayers of an Accidental Nature,'' Debra Di Blasi's arresting second book of fiction.... In clear, resonant prose, laced with bittersweet humor, Di Blasi imparts her understanding of love's multiple ironies.
--Zofia Smardz, New York Times Book Review, 08/15/1999

This book was the feature collection in the Women's Short Stories issue of The New York Times Book Review. The above is an excerpt.