You're So Beautiful [Paperback]

Eileen Fitzgerald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002

A collection of short stories revolving around family life, relationships, and women's experiences features such tales as ""Zoo Bus,"" in which an elderly woman craves attention from the daughter she constantly criticizes.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ten short stories about quiet, anonymous people who sometimes crave attention, sometimes shun it, and, in either case, seem fated for a helpless privacy. A middle-aged woman seeks vainly for some empathy from her husband's new wife. An 81-year-old woman is "mortified" by what she considers the showy public liberalism of her daughter, who makes the local paper with good deeds another mother would be proud of. In the title story, a teenage girl, Sydney, must stave off the unwelcome attentions of an older man, and also the incestuous inclinations of her brother, while her parents are away. The poignant, enervating calm of many of these characters is palpable when Sydney thinks: "If he raped her, she would drive to the police. Or call her parents. Or keep quiet." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

This strong debut collection offers 10 slices of Midwestern life. In "Chicken Train," a high-school teacher at a family barbecue, missing his own youth, finds himself lusting after a ripe 13-year-old who has inspired similar feelings in his son. In "Reading Braille," a blind woman proves more adept at seeing the world than her sighted friend. The twin dangers of female attractiveness and obedience are chillingly limned in the title story: in a town where one girl has already been murdered, a confused teenager responds to the unwanted advances of two men?one of them her elder brother?with inertia and cheerleading. FitzGerald renders even distasteful characters oddly compelling, injecting suspense into common occurrences. In "Zoo Bus," a mean, tart-tongued elderly woman tries to buy affection with $100 bills. The quirky "Sister Boom-Boom" showcases FitzGerald's expertise at peeling away layers one at a time to expose the surprising center of a story. Ex-wife Jean (who is also an ex-nun) learns to stop obsessing about her ex-husband (who was once a priest) and his replacement bride of five years, but not before giving the new wife's perfect tomato a nasty surreptitious pinch while waiting in line at the grocer's. If there is a unifying theme to these stories, it is the humbling gap between expectations and reality with which the characters must come to terms.
Copyright 1996 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: 212 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312170696
• ISBN-13: 978-0312170691
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,031,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific bedside book, May 22, 2001

By 

Cherish L Cronmiller (Columbus, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You're So Beautiful (Paperback)

I picked up this text after noting that it gained A New York Times Notable Book of the Year award. This was a wonderful book, and I actually read it in one sitting! There are ten short stories in the book, all unique and riveting pieces. The writing is vivid and the story lines are enthralling. I enjoy re-reading the stories as they intrigue the senses and challenge the heart and mind. I enjoy loaning the text out to a variety of friends. The text produces great conversations. Pick up a copy, it will leave a lasting impression.