Bibliograph

You may see a stranger, stories, Paula Whyman

Type

Label

You may see a stranger, stories, Paula Whyman

Language

eng

Index

index present

Literary Form

short stories

Main title

You may see a stranger

Oclc number

922729074

Responsibility statement

Paula Whyman

Sub title

stories

Summary

Whyman<U+2019>s debut is an honest and sharply observed linked story collection, spanning the life of Miranda Weber from her teens through her late 40s. The opening, “Driver<U+2019>s Education,” sets up many of the collection<U+2019>s themes as Miranda learns to drive while gaining insights into herself, her sexuality, and the class and racial tensions in 1980s Washington, D.C. Her relationship with her disabled sister, Donna, becomes the focus of “Drosophila,” which takes place before Miranda leaves for college, and which juxtaposes a science project about genetics with a dance at Donna<U+2019>s social club. This story reveals Miranda<U+2019>s impatience with and persistent feelings of guilt about her sister. Miranda grapples with specters of her past in the title story, which describes a fraught country club dinner with her questionable boyfriend and his family. Though the stories proceed chronologically, past and present intermingle as memory creeps in and informs Miranda<U+2019>s experiences, perhaps most vividly in “Transfigured Night,” about her struggle to maintain a connection with her husband as a newlywed. Themes of love, sex, politics, and family run through the collection, and every detail has satisfying echoes later on. Together, these smart, artful stories capture a woman<U+2019>s life and the moments that define her. (May) --Staff (Reviewed 03/28/2016) (Publishers Weekly, vol 263, issue 13, p)

Table Of Contents

Driver's education -- Drosophila -- You may see a stranger -- Dubrovnik 1989 -- Transfigured night -- Jump -- Bad side in -- Threat potential -- Self report -- Just sex

Target audience

adult

Classification