Stephanie Vaughn is a writer’s writer, one whose debut collection of stories, Sweet Talk, was published more than two decades ago to critical acclaim. Readers have come to these stories over the years through word of mouth, posting glowing reviews to their Goodreads pages and on their blogs—unanimously agreeing that this collection is a modern classic that deserves to be in print. Crafted in graceful, honest prose, Vaughn’s stories go straight to the heart of how people live, grow and survive.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
"Every so often that dead dog dreams me up again." This arresting image opens "Dog Heaven," the final story in an accomplished first collection by a young writer whose work has appeared in the New Yorker. Vaughn writes mainly in a wry, undistanced first-person voice, creating imaginative language for recognizable young women in varying circumstances and careers. The narrator of "We're on TV in the Universe" crashes into a patrol car in winter, looks up at the arriving policeman and sees "the crazed lights on the top of his car slinging snowfish around his head." In "The Architecture of California" a young wife comes to understand that her husband has made her best friend pregnant. A comparable unfaithfulness is at the heart of "Other Women," while "Snow Angel" tells of a young mother, trapped in the house with her two children during a three-day snowstorm, who manages--just--to keep her sanity and faith with her kids. Most powerful are the stories about Gemma, including "Kid MacArthur" and "Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog" in which Vaughn's clear-eyed, scalpel-sharp and affectionate observations of a distinctive childhood are delivered in graceful, honest prose.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Five of the ten stories in Vaughn's collection are memory stories of her family. Filled with ambient light, eloquent in content and execution, they are about Gemma, who tells us "I grew up in the army," and her officer father, who like Vaughn's was stationed with his family at various army posts in the United States and abroad. In these stories Vaughn counterpoints the innocence and egocentricity of childhood with the understanding of an adult looking backwards, finally grasping what was happening, finally understanding that though her father was a tall man who loomed large over her childhood he was a failure. Vaughn's family stories are interspersed with stories about a grown woman, presumably Gemma. These stories are very contemporary in their contemplation of the loss of love, of errors in judgment, of the randomness of life, but they lack the luminosity of the family stories.
- Marcia Tager, Tenafly, N.J.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Marcia Tager, Tenafly, N.J.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Haunting Masterpiece,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sweet Talk (Contemporary American Fiction) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a collection of loosely connected stories about a young woman in contemporary America. All of the stories are outstanding, but one in particular, "Dog Heaven," is a masterpiece. I've read this story at least half a dozen times, and each time I read it, I'm moved to tears, and love it more. It's a story about a dog, of course; but also a story of the friendship of three young people. American writers excel at the short story, and "Dog Heaven" is one of the best stories ever written by an American.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant writing, hard and poignant stories,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sweet Talk: Stories (Hardcover)
I read this collection of amazing stories when it first came out, and have just read it again, and the stories bite even harder than the first time! The stories are sad, tough, and funnier than hell. I wish to see another book published by this gifted Stephanie Vaughn. She has so much to say -- and says it so very, very well.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
In case you forgot that short stories can change your life,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Sweet Talk: Stories (Hardcover)
Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog should be in every anthology. I was at a reception for Shannon Ravenel, the long time editor of the Best American Short Stories series (for about 17 years) and was fortunate enough to be able to speak with her for a few minutes. She singled out two stories from this collection (Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog & Dog Heaven) as genius. Keep in mind that the editor of the series reads about 10,000 (no exaggeration)/year and then consider how memorable memorable has to be. You should pick this book up immediately.
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