Bet They'll Miss Us When We're Gone: Stories (Paperback)

by Marianne Wiggins (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Loss and its imminence permeate Wiggins's second short-story collection, which displays an imposing talent.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In 13 probing, nontraditional narratives, the author of John Dollar ( LJ 1/89) explores loss and realization, shifting with admirable facility among locales and distinctive voices. Her overt fascination with language and languages dominates the look and sound of several stories: she coins words and spellings to communicate her speakers' diverse regional dialects and racial contexts, and uses wordplay to express intangibles--the relationship between counting and death, the diminishing of an old man's mind. At times the cleverness obscures the substance of the stories, but Wiggins's provocative articulation of ideas and the almost painful immediacy of her loquacious, present-tense narrative voices will keep thoughtful readers challenged and entertained. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/91.)-- Janet Ingraham, Spartanburg Cty. P.L., S.C.
Copyright 1991 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: 192 pages
• Publisher: Perennial (June 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060921641
• ISBN-13: 978-0060921644
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,975,661 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Short Stories with International Flavor, April 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bet They'll Miss Us When We're Gone: Stories (Hardcover)

The short stories in Bet They'll Miss Us When We're Gone carry a variety of international themes, from Greek to American, with characters written in differing accents and viewpoints. This may be attributed to the authors residence in London, a city filled with immigrants and migrants from places around the world. The characters unique positions offer the reader trips through their worlds, once in the mind of a greek grandmother, then in the mind of a middle aged middle-Eastern gambler. If nothing else, each story is certainly a change from the one before it.

There are thirteen short stories in the book, most written in a free-flowing hand, lacking a lot of punctuation. I found Wiggins' style easy to follow, and high-energy, though I often missed the traditional sense of beginning and ending in the plots. Though I was entertained while reading this book, I wondered where the author expected the reader to land at the end of each story.

I would recommend this book to Wiggins' fans, and to those seeking a bit of flare.