Strange Attractors: Stories (Contemporary American Fiction) [Mass Market Paperback]

Rebecca Goldstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995 | Series: Contemporary American Fiction

A collection of seven short stories that explore the labyrinths of consciousness, the fragile mysteries of love, and the forces that--like the mathematical notion of "strange attractors"--bring a secret order to the chaotic randomness of life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nine somewhat cumbersome short stories continue the philosophical musings earlier sounded in Goldstein's novels The Dark Sister and The Mind-Body Problem (see Paperback Forecasts this issue). Here, a predominantly intellectual cast explores the relationships between art and experience, intellect and passion, tradition and ambition. Peripheral links among the various entries, meanwhile, reinforce Goldstein's suggestion of discernible patterns within a world of mysteries. Goldstein adopts playful tactics--a hostile academic audience listens as a character from Vanity Fair delivers a paper on fictional realism in "The Predicate of Existence"; a 19th-century governess fashions her own gothic romance in "From Dreams of the Dangerous Duke." Another favored subject--a younger generation's response to its Jewish heritage--is explored from opposing points of view in "Mindel Gittel," told by a refugee from the Holocaust, and "Rabbinical Eyes," related by a rabbi's daughter. In general, however, Goldstein subordinates plot, pacing and character development to exposition of her themes; although she tries out different narrative voices , she achieves spontaneity rarely. Pleasure, for the reader as well as the protagonists, is chiefly cerebral.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140172467
• ISBN-13: 978-0140172461
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,331,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rebecca Goldstein is a MacArthur Fellow, a professor of philosophy, and the author of five novels and a collection of short stories. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed it!, February 8, 2005

By 

kattepusen (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strange Attractors: Stories (Contemporary American Fiction) (Mass Market Paperback)

What a insightful collection of short stories by one of my all-time favorite American authors! As a bonus I was also so surprised and happy to meet the characters from Goldstein's book "Mazel" again.

I read the entire collection in a couple of sittings, and I was amazed at the scope of themes included - even though they all deal with "being Jewish" in one way or a another.

As much as I like Goldstein's novels, I sincerely hope she will write more in this genre again as well.

Recommended!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting My Hands on the Chimera, November 7, 2006

By 

J. Owen "Owen" (San Francisco, Ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strange Attractors: Stories (Contemporary American Fiction) (Mass Market Paperback)

This short story, The Editor's Story, renewed my love of reading. The author transported me back to 1907-1908, through a story told to supposed listener. The female author, Rebecca Goldstein, recounted the story of a male editor's evoking of the Modern Novel from the least expected author-to-beat-all authors... a timid female named E. A. Worthinghouse. Eugenia eludes description. However, she did herald the Modern Era, and she birthed female desire headfirst into the Modern Novel, through a sub-story known as "Antonia's Confession".

The Editor's Story embodies the evasive, the illusive and the deeply mysterious in a straight-forward, recounting-sort-of-way. The path of the story always leads back to Chimera, and E.A. Worthinghouse.

"I can't remember the last time I was so excited by a new work as I am by Chimera", I continued. "I was completely fascinated, overwhelmed-and not just a little bit appalled".

I haven't read anything else by Rebecca Goldstein, and I'm a little worried I've stumbled across a "one hit wonder". For the moment, I'm content to read The Editor's Story. Though I'd love to get my hands on Chimera.