Jill McCorkle
Författare till Life after Life
Om författaren
Five of Jill McCorkle's seven previous books have been named New York Times Notable Books. Winner of the New England Book Award, the John Dos Passos Award for Literature, and the North Carolina Award for Literature, she lives near Boston with her husband, their two children, several dogs, and a visa mer collection of toads. visa färre
Foto taget av: Tom Rankin
Verk av Jill McCorkle
Associerade verk
My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop (2012) — Bidragsgivare — 558 exemplar
Wild Women: Contemporary Short Stories by Women Celebrating Women (1994) — Bidragsgivare — 149 exemplar
These United States: Original Essays by Leading American Writers on Their State within the Union by John Leonard (1995) — Bidragsgivare — 90 exemplar
Money Changes Everything: Twenty-Two Writers Tackle the Last Taboo with Tales of Sudden Windfalls, Staggering Debts,… (2007) — Bidragsgivare — 49 exemplar
Best of the South: From the Second Decade of New Stories from the South (2005) — Bidragsgivare — 47 exemplar
Christmas in the South: Holiday Stories from the South's Best Writers (2004) — Bidragsgivare — 26 exemplar
It's Only Rock and Roll: An Anthology of Rock and Roll Short Stories (1998) — Bidragsgivare — 23 exemplar
Taggad
Allmänna fakta
- Namn enligt folkbokföringen
- McCorkle, Jill Collins
- Födelsedag
- 1958-07-07
- Kön
- female
- Nationalitet
- USA
- Födelseort
- Lumberton, North Carolina, USA
- Utbildning
- University of North Carolina
Hollins College - Yrken
- short story writer
novelist - Organisationer
- Fellowship of Southern Writers
- Priser och utmärkelser
- John Dos Passos Prize (2000)
Medlemmar
Recensioner
Listor
Priser
Du skulle kanske också gilla
Associerade författare
Statistik
- Verk
- 19
- Även av
- 23
- Medlemmar
- 2,004
- Popularitet
- #12,849
- Betyg
- 3.6
- Recensioner
- 148
- ISBN
- 79
- Språk
- 3
- Favoritmärkt
- 3
In the first story, ” Old Crimes” (4.5/5), we meet a high school teacher who ruminates on her memories of a trip to New Hampshire from decades ago when she was a college student. Her encounter with a six-year-old girl in the run-down inn where she was staying prompted her to think about her own expectations from life and influenced her perception of cruelty and evil in the world -thoughts that have remained with her through the years. “The Lineman”(4.5/5) revolves around a telephone lineman who tries to come to terms with how human connections and relationships have been impacted by dependence on technology and digitization. He regrets his failed relationships and struggles to hold on to those he holds dear, hoping that one day, when all technology fails, he will be appreciated for his skills. A woman experiences much regret over her inability to speak up for herself or her son as she reflects on the forty years, she has spent in an abusive marriage to a man who was loved and admired by everyone in town in “Low Tones”(5/5). In “Commandments” (5/5), we follow a group of women, a “self-help group of sorts”, each of whom was romantically involved with and dumped by the same man. Their interactions with the strong-willed waitress who serves them in the café where they meet once a month, inspire them to take stock of their lives and reevaluate their priorities.
Our protagonist in “Swinger”(4/5) is grappling with the recent loss of the man with whom she had been in a live-in relationship for the past three years. As she prepares to vacate the home they shared, a box of photographs she finds among his belongings seems to deepen her insecurities, prompting her to question the depth of his commitment to her. In “A Simple Question”(4/5) a woman reflects on her friendship with her older colleague, a woman twice her age, from twenty-five years ago and how own insensitivity and immaturity contributed to their drifting apart. In “Baby in the Pan”(4.5/5) we meet a young mother whose choices cause friction with own her mother, who harbors painful childhood memories. A man rents a room in his late grandparents' former home which is now a gas station when he visits his hometown to visit his dying high school shop teacher in “Filling Station”(4/5) but his attempts to surround himself with happy memories from his childhood for his peace of mind don’t quite go according to plans.
A young couple purchases an old confessional from an antique shop unprepared for the awkward and uncomfortable situations that arise from what was intended to be a source of entertainment among their friends in “Confessional”(5/5). We meet a retired elementary school librarian who does not back down from expressing her opinions and holds her own in her crusade against several social issues in “The Last Station." (4.5/5) A holiday gathering with her adult children and their families brings back memories of the years gone by for a retired high school drama teacher as she contemplates sharing news of her failing health in “Act III”.(5/5) While attending her son’s Little League matches, a young newly divorced mother of two is befriended an elderly woman who shares stories about the town in the aftermath of a recent tragedy, in ”Sparrow”. (4.5/5)
In turn, profoundly insightful, heartbreaking yet reflective and thought-provoking, these stories explore the human condition through complex yet real and relatable characters in various stages of life. The common thread among these stories is deep-rooted sorrow, loneliness and the desire for human connection, the life changing consequences of the choices people make and the emotions they choose to internalize – voluntarily or otherwise – the “crimes’’ they commit toward oneself and those they hold dear. Few of the characters appear in more than one story, allowing us to explore their character arcs from different vantage points. The tone of these stories ranges from melancholic to nostalgic and contemplative, though there are some moments of humor to be within the pages as well . Overall, I found this to be an impactful and exceptionally well-written collection of short stories that I would not hesitate to recommend this collection to those who enjoy character-driven short fiction.
Many thanks to Algonquin Books for both the digital review copy via NetGalley and the physical ARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book was published on January 9, 2024.… (mer)