What Was Mine: & Other Stories [Paperback]

Ann Beattie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 1992

A collection of short fiction, twelve works in all, including two never-before-published novellas. Here are disconnected marriages and uneasy reunions, nostalgic reminiscences and sudden epiphanies--a remarkable and moving collage of contemporary lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In these 12 stories, whose protagonists represent a wide range of voices, ages and social classes, Beattie effectively conveys their epiphanies, though at times she carries subtlety to extremes.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Most of these 12 stories are quick studies of the lives of middle-class Americans caught in the kind of self-examination that exposes the frailties and limitations of their perceptions. In the title story, a boy gains a new and disturbing sense of his dead father's identity through the contemplation of loss. "Installation #6" is about the difference between objective and subjective reality. In it an artist has his handyman brother tape record "some thoughts you can listen to" to be played in the gallery where his construction is on display. The monolog thus becomes both a part of and a commentary on the artist's work. Next, against a sensuous Mediterranean backdrop, a woman vacationing with her husband faces the shortcomings of their relationship in "In Amalfi." This well-crafted and readable collection should appeal to fans of Beattie's other work.
- Francis Poole, Univ. of Dela ware, Newark
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (June 16, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679739033
• ISBN-13: 978-0679739036
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,831,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ann Beattie has been included in four O. Henry Award Collections and in John Updike's Best American Short Stories of the Century. In 2000, she received the PEN/Malamud Award for achievement in the short story form. In 2005, she received the Rea Award for the Short Story. She and her husband, Lincoln Perry, live in Key West, Florida, and Charlottesville, Virginia, where she is Edgar Allan Poe Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Virginia.