In this Book
- Telling Moments: Autobiographical Lesbian Short Stories
- Book
- 2003
- Published by: University of Wisconsin Press
summary
Telling Moments collects contemporary short stories by a diverse group of twenty-four lesbian writers. Engaging themes of life and death, aging, motherhood, race, love, work, and travel, the writers offer brief glimpses into lesbian lives.
The stories are by well-known contemporary writers—Gloria Anzaldúa, Mary Cappello, Emma Donoghue, Jewelle Gomez, Karla Jay, Anna Livia, Valerie Miner, Lesléa Newman, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Ruthann Robson, Sarah Schulman, and Jess Wells—and exciting newer voices, such as Donna Allegra and Marion Douglas. There are also stories from performance artists Carmelita Tropicana, Peggy Shaw, and Maya Chowdhry. Anna Livia’s protagonist appreciates her mother’s artful garden creation. Ruthann Robson tells of a survivor of the health care system. In Marion Douglas’s story a teenager dances with an alluring classmate. Donna Allegra’s strong construction worker copes with the death of her mother. And Karla Jay sets her character forth to swim with sharks. Most of the stories are accompanied by an author photo, biographical sketch, and—a most significant feature—a commentary from the author on her writing process and the autobiographical nature of her story, illustrating the truth behind the fiction.
The stories are by well-known contemporary writers—Gloria Anzaldúa, Mary Cappello, Emma Donoghue, Jewelle Gomez, Karla Jay, Anna Livia, Valerie Miner, Lesléa Newman, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Ruthann Robson, Sarah Schulman, and Jess Wells—and exciting newer voices, such as Donna Allegra and Marion Douglas. There are also stories from performance artists Carmelita Tropicana, Peggy Shaw, and Maya Chowdhry. Anna Livia’s protagonist appreciates her mother’s artful garden creation. Ruthann Robson tells of a survivor of the health care system. In Marion Douglas’s story a teenager dances with an alluring classmate. Donna Allegra’s strong construction worker copes with the death of her mother. And Karla Jay sets her character forth to swim with sharks. Most of the stories are accompanied by an author photo, biographical sketch, and—a most significant feature—a commentary from the author on her writing process and the autobiographical nature of her story, illustrating the truth behind the fiction.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Acknowledgments
- p. ix
- Our Loves
- Tenderness
- pp. 13-16
- Dance Hall Road
- pp. 17-24
- Choose: A Biomythography
- pp. 25-32
- Swimming with Sharks
- pp. 33-44
- Private Lessons
- pp. 45-54
- Farewell to Concubines
- pp. 55-66
- Love Quartet
- pp. 67-72
- Our Mothers
- The Dead Mothers Club
- pp. 75-88
- Dostoyevsky Would Have Liked That
- pp. 89-100
- Violin Lessons
- pp. 101-114
- Swimming at Midnight
- pp. 115-124
- Our Children
- Someone's Deciding
- pp. 127-140
- Easter Weekend
- pp. 141-146
- Our Lives: Bodies, Work, Travel, et al.
- Gone Fishing
- pp. 149-156
- The Sanctuary of Hands
- pp. 185-196
- The House with Nobody in It
- pp. 197-210
- Mad Dog in Chelsea Morris
- pp. 211-222
- Leaving Her
- pp. 223-230
- My First Wedding
- pp. 231-234
- Out Takes in Cuba
- pp. 245-250
Additional Information
ISBN
9780299191139
Related ISBN(s)
9780299191146
MARC Record
OCLC
681351095
Pages
280
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2003