Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A delightful and terrifying collection of twenty short stories, edited by critically acclaimed writer and novelist Mark Jude Poirier.
Adolescence. Fortunately it's over with early and once you've finished paying for therapy, there's still a chance to move on with your life.
The Worst Years of Your Life says it all: angst, depression, growing pains, puberty, nasty boys and nastier girls; these are stories of aaawkwardness and embarassment from a stellar list of contributors. Great postmodern classics like John Barth's "Lost in the Funhouse" are paired with newer selections, such as Stacey Richter's "The Beauty Treatment" and A.M. Homes's "A Real Doll," in this searing, unforgettable collection. A perfect book for revisiting old favorites and discovering new ones, and the opportunity to relive the worst years of your life -- without having to relive the worst years of your life.
About the Author
Mark Jude Poirier is the author of two novels and two story collections. In 2014, IFC released Hateship Loveship, which he adapted from an Alice Munro story. He holds a Briggs-Copeland lectureship in the creative writing faculty at Harvard.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction
George Saunders Bohemians
Jennifer Egan Sisters of the Moon
Victor D. LaValle Class Trip
Julie Orringer Note to Sixth-Grade Self
John Barth Lost in the Funhouse
Rattawut Lapcharoensap At the Café Lovely
Stanley Elkin A Poetics for Bullies
Stacey Richter The Beauty Treatment
Jim Shepard Spending the Night with the Poor
Alicia Erian Alcatraz
A.M. Homes A Real Doll
Robert Boswell Brilliant Mistake
Kevin Canty Pretty Judy
Mark Jude Poirier Thunderbird
Amber Dermont Lyndon
Nathan Englander How We Avenged the Blums
Malinda McCollum Good Monks
Chris Adrian A Child's Book of Sickness and Death
Elizabeth Stuckey-French Junior
Holiday Reinhorn Charlotte
Contributors
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