The Soho Press book of 80s short fiction / edited by Dale Peck.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Peck, Dale, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nineteen eighties--Fiction.

Nineteen eighties.

Short stories, American--20th century.

Short stories, American.

Popular culture--United States--History--20th century--Fiction.

Popular culture.

History.

United States.

Genre:

Short stories.

Fiction.

Short stories, American.

Physical Description:

581 pages ; 21 cm

Other Title:

Book of 80s short fiction

Book of eighties short fiction

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Soho Press, Inc., [2016]

Summary:

"In The Soho Press Book of '80s Short Fiction, editor Dale Peck offers readers a fresh take on a seminal period in American history, when Ronald Reagan was president, the Cold War was rushing to its conclusion, and literature was searching for ways to move beyond the postmodern unease of the 1970s. Morally charged by newly politicized notions of identity but fraught with anxiety about a body whose fragility had been freshly emphasized by the AIDS epidemic, the 34 works gathered here are individually vivid, but taken as a body of work, they challenge the prevailing notion of the '80s as a time of aesthetic as well as financial maximalism. Formally inventive yet tightly controlled, they offer a more expansive, inclusive view of the era's literary accomplishments. The anthology blends early stories from writers like Denis Johnson, Jamaica Kincaid, Mary Gaitskill, and Raymond Carver, which have gone on to become part of the American canon, with remarkable and often transgressive work from some of the most celebrated writers of the underground, including Dennis Cooper, Eileen Myles, Lynne Tillman, and Gary Indiana. Peck has also included powerful work by writers such as Gil Cuadros, Essex Hemphill, and Sam D'Allesandro, whose untimely deaths from AIDS ended their careers almost before they had begun. Almost a third of the stories are out of print and unavailable elsewhere. The Soho Press Book of '80s Short Fiction is a daring reappraisal of a decade that is increasingly central to our culture"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction / Dale Peck

Weird fucks / Lynne Tillman

Girl / Jamaica Kincaid

So much water so close to home / Raymond Carter

Aphrodisiac / Christopher Bram

From pet food / Jessica Hagedorn

Sex story / Robert Glück

In the cemetery where Al Jolson is buried / Amy Hempel

Spring / Brad Gooch

Sodomy / Gary Indiana

The history of the world / Jim Lewis

The angel / Patrick McGrath

River of names / Dorothy Allison

How soft, how sweet / Suzanne Gardinier

Secretary / Mary Gaitskill

Wrong / Dennis Cooper

From after Delores / Sarah Schulman

Work / Denis Johnson

Debbie's barium swallow / Laurie Weeks

Giovanni's apartment / Sam D'Allesandro

Lust / Susan Minot

Pretending to say no / Bruce Benderson

A real doll / A.M. Homes

Days without someone / Dodie Bellamy

Spiral / David Wojnarowicz

Ceremonies / Essex Hemphill

Robin / Eileen Myles

The cat who loved la traviata / Jaime Manrique

From annotations / John Keene

The secrets of summer / Bret Easton Ellis

Letting go / Gil Cuadros

Sight / Gil Cuadros

Chain of fools / Kevin Killian

Hobbits and hobgoblins / Randall Kenan

A good man / Rebecca Brown.

ISBN:

9781616955465

1616955465

OCLC:

921863901

Publisher Number:

99971347285