Synopses & Reviews
The inhabitants of Prose's
Peaceable Kingdom are getting the surprises of their lives: a young woman on her honeymoon suddenly realizes that her ecologist husband will have to save the world without her; a child on a class trip recognizes in an Egyptian tomb the inevitable and tragic procession of her life to come; a young puppeteer works a party in the house of a wealthy family, only to be drawn into an encounter with the head of the dysfunctional household; and a disaffected girl on a trip to Paris with her father and his mistress is chased by the boy of her dreams. Nothing is certain in this world where weddings and birthday parties go unpredictably awry, strangers blurt out disturbing confessions, and even the family pets reveal themselves to be agents of discord and disruption.
In this short-story collection by one of the most gifted fiction writers of our time, Francine Prose shows us how the seemingly tranquil surface of ordinary happiness barely conceals the darker, more mysterious and brutal truths about this deceptively peaceable kingdom.
Review
"Smartly observed and deftly written." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Full of wisdom." Los Angeles Times
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"More entertaining, offbeat fiction from a proven master of domestic whimsy....Prose's delight in exposing the deadly sins that lurk beneath the surface of suburban ennui reaches its memorable peak." Kirkus Reviews
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"Impeccably crafted and hilarious." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Prose (Primitive People; Household Saints) is a highly talented writer who in this collection of stories most of them previously published in little magazines seems to be seeking a subject. They are mostly about young, fairly sophisticated people in a vaguely artistic milieu who are profoundly at odds with each other and their world. Prose has a marvelous ear for the inanities of contemporary dialogue, and is continuously observant; there is never a time when she bores the reader or causes impatience, and she is often very funny. But readers will likely come away with little more than cool admiration for her intelligence and her rueful insights. In "Amazing,'' for instance, a young puppeteer does his work at a party in the house of a wealthy and clearly dysfunctional family, only to be drawn into an odd and not very convincing encounter with the father of the household; in "Potato World,'' a bright, disaffected girl on a trip to Paris with her father and his mistress is chased there by her hapless boyfriend, with disastrous results; "Rubber Life'' is a sort of ghost story about a librarian and her best customer that ends, as so many of these stories do, with a symbolist flourish that is effective in itself but seems unrelated to what has gone before. Read one at a time these stories would probably seem more hip and entertaining than they do as a collection, where their similarities and frequent glibness are more apparent." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
The Inhabitants of Francine Prose's Peaceable Kingdom are getting the surprises of their lives. The things they thought they'd wanted marriages and children, travel, work even the compromises they imagined they'd made, no longer sustain them. Nothing is dependable in this world where weddings and birthday parties go unpredictably awry, strangers blurt out disturbing confessions, and even family pets reveal themselves to be agents of discord and disruption.
About the Author
Francine Prose is the critically acclaimed author of nineteen novels, including the National Book Award Finalist Blue Angel and My New American Life. She has written three other novels for young adults: After, winner of the California Young Reader Medal, an IRA/CBC Young Adults' Choice, and a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age; Bullyville, a PW Best Book and Book Sense Children's Pick; and her most recent, Touch. She is also the author of two picture books, Leopold, the Liar of Leipzig and Rhino, Rhino, Sweet Potato. The recipient of numerous grants and honors, including a Guggenheim and a Fulbright, Francine Prose was Director's Fellow at the Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. She lives in New York City.