Someone to Watch Over Me: Stories - Softcover

Bausch, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060930705 ISBN 13: 9780060930707

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2000

Synopsis

Richard Bausch is a master of the intimate moment, of the ways we seek to make lasting connections to one another and to the world. Gew writers evoke the complexities of love as subtly, and few capture the poignancy of the sudden insight or the rhythms of ordinary conversation with such delicacy and humor. To read these twelve stories--of love and loss, of families and strangers, of small moments and enormous epiphanies--is to be reminded again of the power of short fiction to thrill and move us, to make us laugh, or cry. In these profound glimpses into the private fears, joys, and sorrows of people we know, we find revealed a whole range of human experience, told with extraordinary force, clarity, and compassion.

About this title

Review:

"Perhaps, on consideration, it is misleading to say that his characters are ordinary people, for against the unthinking rush of our current culture, they seek a pattern in life. They are inarticulate neither in voice nor thought." -- Bette Pesetsky, "New York Times Book Review""Confused relations and the panic of loss suffuse the tales in Richard Bausch's stunning fifth collection of short fiction. . . .Bausch's chilling and believable dramas are haunting; the stories advance with the gravity of stop-motion photography. And the characters, driven to desperate acts, incapable of hearing one another, will linger long in readers' minds."-- "Publishers Weekly, "Starred Review "In his fifth story collection, Bausch delightfully proves himself the chronicler of faults--not wrongs, but the shy, ambiguous, and sometimes disastrous ways we don't quite get each other. . . .Short fiction is widely regarded as Bausch's strongest genre, and this engaging collection can only fortify that impression."-- "Kirkus Reviews, "starred review. "Some writers seem to have an instinctive sensitivity to human emotion. They seem to be able to reach inside human experience, responding to its variety instead of its limitations, and they have the rarest of abilities to record the nuances of this experience to create literature. Richard Bausch...is one of those rare mater writers, and his power continues to grow."-- "Richmond Times-Dispatch""Richard Bausch is a master of the short story...He brings to life characters and situations as vivid and compelling as any in contemporary literature. Bausch's literary voice is reminiscent of no one else's; he is an original."-- "Milwaukee Journal""Among the most masterful ofAmerican fiction writers. . . . Employing a variety of tones and techniques...Bausch again casts colorful light on contemporary humanity, letting us see ourselves as in a glass, less darkly."--"Boston Globe""Mr. Bausch's stories have a restorative quality. They demonstrate the power of crisp, unsparing lucidity. They may not cheer you up, but they'll make you glad you read them."-- "Wall Street Journal" "The essential mystery at the heart of every relationship is the subject of these twelve stories. What drives people together? What drives them apart? Revenge, boredom, sex--they're all here. . . . The landscape of the heart depicted here is less bleak than it sounds; what drives these stories is the belief that love is reachable just around the bend. A-"-- "Entertainment Weekly""As in his past work, Bausch aims for luminous simplicity. His stories radiate a conviction that you can eavesdrop on any life and find something worth hearing. . . .Bausch hovers over his characters like the guardian angel they all seek, like the perfect parent or spouse: respectful, patient, engaged, but never pushy, never obtrusive."--New York Times Book Review

Synopsis:

Richard Bausch is a virtuoso of the intimate moment, of the ways human beings seek to make lasting connections to one another and to the world. Few writers evoke the complexities of love as subtly as he does, and few capture the poignancy of sudden insight or the rhythms of ordinary conversation with such delicacy and humour. In Someone to Watch Over Me, Bausch presents a breathtaking series of stories, filled with the startlingly insights only a writer of his ability can capture so poignantly. Many of these stories have appeared in magazines such as The New Atlantic Mlonthly, and Esquire, and one was included in the anthology Best American Short Stories 1997. All are hallmarks of Bausch's brilliance, peopled with engaging characters, filled with rhythms of ordinary conversation, and sure to draw readers to them time and again.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0060930705
• ISBN 13: 9780060930707
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 226