Normal

Lucia Nevai

en Limba Engleză Paperback – 31 dec 1996

You won't find storybook families in these twelve wonderfully daring stories by Lucia Nevai. Over and over, Nevai's characters, from an urbane ex-hippie in Manhattan to a disabled war veteran in rural Louisiana, miss in their attempts to connect with the people they love most. But in the midst of all the missed connections, something remarkable (and often very funny) happens. In the tradition of Amy Bloom, Ellen Gilchrist, and Francine Prose, Nevai brings us unforgettable families in twelve versions of "normal" that we can all recognize. "Skewed and shrewd, Ms. Nevai makes a delightful tour guide to the fallout of the nuclear family."--The New York Times Book Review; "A writer of uncommon potency and reach."--Publishers Weekly, starred; "Nevai is a real talent with a ready wit and a steady gaze."--Kirkus Reviews.

Citește tot Restrânge

Textul de pe ultima copertă

There are no storybook families in these twelve wonderfully daring stories. Here you'll find parents, children, stepchildren, husbands, and wives - all normal families; all unforgettably real. Lucia Nevai's twelve variations on normality place us in the company of characters created by a writer of uncommon talent. These portraits include: "Thanksgiving with Dorrie & Heck", in which a competitive family talent show leads to one teenager's visit to the emergency room; "Close", in which a family therapist en route to her brother's memorial service tries to heal her own fractured family by linking her hands spread across the map in an in-flight magazine; and "Normal", in which a young mother struggles to impress her estranged father with her new life during his first visit to his infant grandson. From an urbane ex-hippie in Manhattan to a disabled war veteran in rural Louisiana, these characters never quite connect with the people they love most - they just don't get it. But, luckily for us, Lucia Nevai does, because in the midst of all the missed connections, something remarkable, and often very funny, happens. She gently strips away her characters' defenses, but never their dignity, showing us what it means to be a family. Nothing in these twelve stories of missed connections is exactly what it seems. But what's unmistakable is that we're in the hands of a remarkable writer - a writer whose graceful and witty portraits of eccentric normality are like pages from a family album that we can all recognize.

Descriere

Each of the wonderfully daring stories in this collection rings true. Over and over, Nevai's characters--from an urbane ex-hippie in Manhattan to a disabled war veteran in rural Louisiana--miss in their attempts to connect with the people they love most. But, in the midst of all these missed connections, something remarkable (and often very funny) happens.