Synopses & Reviews
Each of the nine stories in this beautifully written, intensely intimate collection centers on a transformative moment that alters the delicate balance of power between mother and son, or changes the way they perceive one another. With exquisite grace and eloquence, Tóibín writes of men and women bound by convention, by unspoken emotions, by the stronghold of the past. Many are trapped in lives they would not choose again, if they ever chose at all.
A man buries his mother and converts his grief to desire in one night. A famous singer captivates an audience, yet cannot beguile her own estranged son. And in "A Long Winter," Colm Tóibín's finest piece of cction to date, a young man searches for his mother in the snow-covered mountains where she has sought escape from the husband who controls and confines her.
Winner of numerous awards for his fifth novel, The Master -- including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award -- Tóibín brings to this stunning first collection an acute understanding of human frailty and longing. These are haunting, profoundly moving stories by a writer who is himself a master.
Review
"[A] book to be offered to anyone who savors some of the most accomplished and nuanced soundings contemporary fiction has to offer." New York Times
Review
"Though each story stands alone...the magic of Mothers and Sons is how beautifully they come together as a whole." Miami Herald
Review
"'A Long Winter' has everything we've come to expect of Tóibín....It's a beautiful, seamless, affecting piece of writing." Seattle Times
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"[Toibin has] the extraordinary gift of making perennial matters of family life feel mesmerizingly new, and of epic significance." National Post
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"Characterization, dialogue, controlled narrative and scenic description are expertly blended throughout, often to stunning emotional effect." Kirkus Reviews
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"[A] rich but supple prose style seals each story's and thus the collection's absolute success." Booklist
Synopsis
With dazzling brilliance and empathy, Colm T ib n's collection of stories wrestles with complicated themes of emotional restraint, the long reach of sexual repression, and the difficulty of escaping one's past. Each of the nine stories in this beautifully written, intensely intimate collection centers on a transformative moment that alters the delicate balance of power between mother and son, or changes the way they perceive one another. With exquisite grace and eloquence, T ib n writes of men and women bound by convention, by unspoken emotions, by the stronghold of the past. Many are trapped in lives they would not choose again, if they ever chose at all.
A man buries his mother and converts his grief to desire in one night. A famous singer captivates an audience, yet cannot beguile her own estranged son. And in A Long Winter, Colm T ib n's finest piece to date, a young man searches for his mother in the snow-covered mountains where she has sought escape from the husband who controls and confines her.
Winner of numerous awards for his fifth novel, The Master--including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award--T ib n brings to this stunning first collection an acute understanding of human frailty and longing. These are haunting, profoundly moving stories by a writer who is himself a master.
About the Author
Colm Toibin is the award-winning author of five novels: The South, The Heather Blazing, The Story of the Night, The Blackwater Lightship, and The Master, winner of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Man Booker Prize. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
The Use of Reason
A Song
The Name of the Game
Famous Blue Raincoat
A Priest in the Family
A Journey
Three Friends
A Summer Job
A Long Winter
One Minus One