A Private State (Awp Award for Short Fiction) [Paperback]

Charlotte Bacon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Awp Award for Short Fiction | Publication Date: May 2003

Award-winning writer Charlotte Bacon illuminates the unexpected ambiguities of women's lives in a beautifully crafted collection of stories about women who have arrived at awkward edges in their lives--adolescence, or old age, sick or pregnant. Many come to abrupt discoveries or stumble on startling secrets. Despite their range in age and situation, all share the common goal of trying to reassemble their lives .

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The devil is in the details, as the old saying goes, and certainly the women who populate Charlotte Bacon's collection of short stories, A Private State, would agree. The lives these women lead are not the stuff of epic tragedy--instead, the distance between spouses is measured in the disappearance of the family dog; the fate of a pregnancy is decided during a whale-watching expedition. There are no fiery emotional explosions, no grand epiphanies. Bacon limns subtle stories of women who move through the physical world in search of answers they can only find within themselves. Whether it is one character's attempt to anchor herself in a shared past with her sister following the death of their mother, or another's efforts to suspend her anxiety about the future by losing herself in the buoyancy of water as she swims laps, Bacon defines small moments that build eventually to a greater awareness, if not always a happy ending, for her quiet pilgrims. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"'A Private State' is impressive in every way, a splendid debut and a rare achievement." -- George Cuomo

"Bacon's collection of finely wrought stories examines the human condition with rare power...Accomplished and complex..." -- Judges for the Ernest Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award

"Her stories are witty, swift, beautifully crafted, and grounded in emotional reality." -- Maureen Howard

"Reading this book is like being a child picking through a wonderful toy box." -- Independent

"The loops of meaning coil from story to story, creating a memorable whole that transcends the sum of its parts." -- Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Massachusetts Pr (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558493972
• ISBN-13: 978-1558493971
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 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: #1,164,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent combination of E.Annie Proulx and John Cheever, October 21, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Barre, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Private State -Awp (Hardcover)

Like E. Annie Proulx, Charlotte Bacon's writing is fresh and compelling, sprinkled liberally with incandescent imagery. Like Cheever, seemingly small events, like a weekend in the country, a troubling discovery made by a daughter in her father's apartment, or a whale-watching trip, all mark tidal points in the lives of her characters. With nary a false note, this young writer carries us through the lives of men and women facing the end of marriage, the beginning of a pregnancy, the repercussions of the loss of a job on a wealthy family. Such grace and assured prose is rare in young writers, and I'm already waiting for her next. An excellent collection of stories (and prize-winning, too, if you check the book jacket).

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite strong, February 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Private State -Awp (Hardcover)

All our old elusive friends from English Class -- Psychological Depth, Moral Complexity, Wit (sparkling of course), Astute Observation, Lucidity and Grace -- are evident in these fine tales of women sliding into nuances of awareness they never sought and perhaps wouldn't have welcomed. Reminiscent of Cheever, yes; but also Chekhov and (at their very best) Ann Beattie and Alice Munro. Rather impressive stuff.