Unearned Pleasures and Other Stories [Paperback]

Ursula Hegi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 1997

In this stunning collection of stories, bestselling author Ursula Hegi focuses on the problems of love -- familial, parental, conjugal, and emergent. With compassion and her "unfailing immediacy of language," she raises the struggles of her characters to a plane of recognition that enables them to transcend despair. Life and death, age and youth, attained hopes and unearned pleasures, provide the human settings for a brilliant exploration of life at its most pointed and significant.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In this stunning collection of stories, bestselling author Ursula Hegi focuses on the problems of love -- familial, parental, conjugal, and emergent. With compassion and her "unfailing immediacy of language," she raises the struggles of her characters to a plane of recognition that enables them to transcend despair. Life and death, age and youth, attained hopes and unearned pleasures, provide the human settings for a brilliant exploration of life at its most pointed and significant.

About the Author

Ursula Hegi is the author of The Worst Thing I've Done, Sacred Time, Hotel of the Saints, The Vision of Emma Blau, Tearing the Silence, Salt Dancers, Stones from the River, Floating in My Mother's Palm, Unearned Pleasures and Other Stories, Intrusions, and Trudi & Pia. She teaches writing at Stonybrook's Southhampton Campus and she is the recipient of more than thirty grants and awards.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (April 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684844850
• ISBN-13: 978-0684844855
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #547,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Middle-Aged Female Blues, June 2, 2002

By 

Curtis Lane (Orlando, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unearned Pleasures and Other Stories (Paperback)

This was a worthwhile and enjoyable enough collection of short stories; most of them revolve around what seems to be the female equivalent of midlife crisis. Ideally, I would have rated this book 3.5, but I can't justify giving it a 4. The stories are interestingly told and emotionally sharp. They tend to leave something wanting, however.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read., March 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Unearned Pleasures and Other Stories (Paperback)

A collection of essays written straight forward and in the abstract years before Floating in My Mother's Palm and Stones From the River, Ursula Hegi's Unearned Pleasures gives the reader a smorgasbord of tasty treats for the mind. Tina's room, a story of a young mother's coming to grips with the loss of her infant daughter left my scalp tingling when I finished reading it. Some stories are better than others but most have the vivid imagery that Hegi has become noted for.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All a taste of a life, June 23, 2001

By 

atmj (Rochester, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Unearned Pleasures and Other Stories (Paperback)

Ursula Hegi known for Stones from the River, in this book writes bits of other lives.

WHAT POSSIBILITIES: In each of these smidgens of a life, you can see the past, present and future. There is a whole life in all of these short stories.

POWER OF THE WRITER: These stories step you into lives either vastly different that your own, or incredibly familiar, and show how alike we really all are. What these stories do show you, is how powerfully elegant Ursula Hegi is as a writer, to be able to do this.

EACH STORY IS CAPTIVATING IN ITS OWN WAY: Each of these stories could be a novel in its own right. In fact that is the only complaint I have, is that I wanted more. It was evident each story was complete in its own right, but on the same token, you wanted to follow the writer's thoughts so you could see how things ended up. Many stories were very introscpective, as much of Ms. Hegi's work is. All related a feeling of belonging, betrayal, concern, happiness, etc. These weren't so much spelled out, but you experienced them as you read the stories.

INTERESTING WAYS OF TELLING A STORY: I found several of the stories very compelling. One was by a person that was struggling with the wandering mind of a high fever. Another was of a jilted bride that attended stranger's wedding in her wedding finery, to insure their good fortune. In both of these stories, initially you don't know what's going on. The fog of the central character is over your eyes as well. Marvelous writing.

This is a short book that makes you wish for more.

Fantastic job.