In this Book
- Patchwork: A Bobbie Ann Mason Reader
- Book
- 2018
- Published by: The University Press of Kentucky
Bobbie Ann Mason burst onto the American literary scene during a renaissance of short fiction that Raymond Carver called a "literary phenomenon." Anne Tyler hailed Mason as "a full-fledged master of the short story." Mason's work, charged with a spirit of exploration, garnered both popular and critical acclaim.
This reader collects outstanding examples of Mason's award-winning work from throughout her writing career and provides a unique look at the development of one of the country's finest writers. Patchwork contains short stories first published in the New Yorker and other leading periodicals; chapters from Mason's acclaimed novels, including In Country, An Atomic Romance, and The Girl in the Blue Beret; and riveting excerpts from Mason's eclectic nonfiction. Some examples of Mason's recent explorations in flash fiction appear here in print for the first time.
Mason's writing glows with a nuanced understanding of the struggles and pathos of American life in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. George Saunders writes in his introduction, "Bobbie Ann Mason is a strange and beautiful writer.... Her stories exist to gently touch on, and praise, even mourn, what it feels like to be alive in this moment." Patchwork conveys Mason's extraordinary talent and range as a writer.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- pp. xiii-xx
- A Note to the Reader about This Reader
- pp. xxi-xxii
- I. First Stories
- pp. 26-27
- Third Monday
- pp. 49-63
- from In Country (1985)
- pp. 66-84
- Big Bertha Stories
- pp. 87-101
- III. Love Lives
- pp. 102-103
- Bumblebees
- pp. 137-151
- IV. Beginnings
- pp. 152-153
- from The Girl Sleuth (1975)
- pp. 154-155
- Reading Between the Lines
- pp. 170-174
- from Elvis Presley (2003)
- pp. 175-177
- V. Family History
- pp. 178-179
- The Family Farm, from Clear Springs
- pp. 180-192
- The Pond, from Clear Springs
- pp. 193-203
- VI. Nancy Culpepper
- pp. 204-205
- Nancy Culpepper
- pp. 206-220
- The Prelude
- pp. 221-239
- VII. More Love Lives
- pp. 240-241
- Midnight Magic
- pp. 258-270
- VIII. Whimsy
- pp. 280-281
- La Bamba Hot Line
- pp. 282-284
- Sheep Down Under
- pp. 285-288
- Hot Colors
- pp. 289-290
- All Shook Up
- pp. 294-295
- Hear My Song
- pp. 296-298
- Terms of Office
- pp. 299-301
- IX. Fiction and History
- pp. 302-303
- from Feather Crowns (1993)
- pp. 304-317
- X. Literary Meanderings
- pp. 318-319
- The Universe of Ada
- pp. 320-322
- XI. Atomic Fact and Fiction
- pp. 336-337
- from An Atomic Romance (2005)
- pp. 352-365
- XII. Zigzagging
- pp. 366-367
- from The Girl in the Blue Beret (2011)
- pp. 400-412
- The Real Girl in the Blue Beret
- pp. 413-419
- XIV. Zanies
- pp. 420-421
- Whale Love
- pp. 422-426
- Talking through Hats
- pp. 427-431
- XV. Dancing
- pp. 432-433
- Quinceañera
- pp. 434-439
- The Horsehair Ball Gown
- pp. 440-451
- XVI. Flash Fiction
- pp. 452-453
- The Canyon Where the Coyotes Live
- pp. 455-456
- Cumberbatch
- pp. 459-460
- The Girl in Purple
- pp. 461-462
- The State Pen
- pp. 463-464
- XVII. The Hot Seat: Interviews
- pp. 468-469
- BOMB Magazine, 1989
- pp. 470-481
- Missouri Review, 1997
- pp. 482-496
- Transatlantica, 2015
- pp. 497-506
- 2paragraphs.com
- p. 507
- Copyrights and Permissions
- pp. 508-511
- About the Author
- pp. 512-513
Additional Information
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