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Babylon and Other Stories (Vintage Contemporaries)

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In their various locales — from Montreal (where a prosthetic leg casts a furious spell on its beholders) to New Mexico (where a Soviet-era exchange student redefines home for his hosts) — the characters in Babylon are coming to terms with life's epiphanies, for good or ill.

They range from the very young who, confronted with their parents' limitations, discover their own resolve, to those facing middle age and its particular indignities, no less determined to assert themselves and shape their destinies. Babylon and Other Stories showcases the wit, humor, and insight that have made Alix Ohlin one of the most admired young writers working today.

Review:

"Stories that tease, amuse, trouble, captivate, and offer fleeting comforts with every trembling denouement....Ohlin stakes out the fertile middle ground between traditional realism and the new nod-and-a-wink fabulism." The New York Times Book Review

Review:

"Unforgettable....Though many of her characters are suffering, the stories are never maudlin, and the people are sympathetic and real....Passionate and warm." San Francisco Chronicle

Review:

"With language intensely evocative and keenly focused on the nuances that define each of us as individuals, Ohlin delves into the lives of her characters — even in her shortest pieces — and reveals a depth to them, a poignancy, that is deeply affecting." The Baltimore Sun

Synopsis:

In a collection of short stories that are clear-eyed and compassionate, brimming with wit, humor, and warmth, Ohlin introduces characters enmeshed in situations both familiar and absurd.
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About the Author

Alix Ohlin was born in Montreal in 1972, graduated from Harvard University, and studied at the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, Texas. Her fiction, which has appeared in the One Story series and Shenandoah, among other periodicals, has been selected for both Best New American Voices 2004 and Best American Short Stories 2005. She has received awards and fellowships from The Atlantic Monthly, the MacDowell Colony, and The Kenyon Review's Writers Workshop. She lives in Easton, Pennsylvania, and teaches at Lafayette College.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Henry, June 9, 2007 (view all comments by Henry)
Alix Ohlin's characters are complicated bundles of love and fear and confusion and anger and hope -- the whole dizzying human mix. Sometimes easy to fall for and sometimes hard to embrace, they are always very real. This is a fine collection of stories for those who feel that fiction's true purpose is to explore (and to connect readers with) what it means to be human. The author is clearly fascinated by the texture and the mystery of our emotional lives and attachments, and like her novel, The Missing Person, this book is well worth your time.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781400031399
Author:
Ohlin, Alix
Publisher:
Vintage Books
Subject:
Short Stories (single author)
Subject:
Stories (single author)
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Series:
Vintage Contemporaries
Publication Date:
20070631
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
288
Dimensions:
7.96x5.48x.63 in. .46 lbs.
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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

Babylon and Other Stories (Vintage Contemporaries) New Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$13.95 In Stock
Product details 288 pages Vintage Books USA - English 9781400031399 Reviews:
"Review" by , "Stories that tease, amuse, trouble, captivate, and offer fleeting comforts with every trembling denouement....Ohlin stakes out the fertile middle ground between traditional realism and the new nod-and-a-wink fabulism."
"Review" by , "Unforgettable....Though many of her characters are suffering, the stories are never maudlin, and the people are sympathetic and real....Passionate and warm."
"Review" by , "With language intensely evocative and keenly focused on the nuances that define each of us as individuals, Ohlin delves into the lives of her characters — even in her shortest pieces — and reveals a depth to them, a poignancy, that is deeply affecting."
"Synopsis" by , In a collection of short stories that are clear-eyed and compassionate, brimming with wit, humor, and warmth, Ohlin introduces characters enmeshed in situations both familiar and absurd.
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