Birds Of America (short Story Collection)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Birds of America'' (1998) is a collection of short stories by American writer Lorrie Moore. The stories in this collection originally appeared in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', '' Elle'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', and ''
The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...
''. The story "People Like That Are the Only People Here" won an O. Henry Award in 1998. The book became a ''New York Times'' bestseller, a rarity for a short story collection. The book was included in the ''New York Times Book Review'' books of the year list in 1998. Winner of the ''
Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' international fiction prize. A ''
Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'' book of the year (1998). Winner of the Salon Book Award.


Contents

''Birds of America'' contains the following short stories: * Willing A 40 something year old, washed up Hollywood actress moves to Chicago and takes up residence at a Days Inn. She is unsatisfied with what her life has become. She has missed the opportunity, she feels, to have a partner and children. She is alone and unhappy. She starts a relationship with a local car mechanic who she ultimately does not respect, but is still upset when he ultimately leaves her. * Which Is More Than I Can Say About Some People A mother and daughter travel to Ireland to kiss the Blarney Stone. * Dance in America The narrator travels through
Pennsylvania Dutch Country The Pennsylvania Dutch Country (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Deitscherei'' Dutchery', also called Pennsylvania Dutchland (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Pennsylvania Deitschland'', german: Pennsylvania Deutschland), or simply the Dutch Country or Dutchland (Pen ...
teaching dance at local schools/colleges. While traveling she stops to visit an old college friend, his wife and 7-year-old son with
Cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...
. * Community Life * Agnes of Iowa * Charades * Four Calling Birds, Three French Hens * Beautiful Grade A middle aged Law professor begins dating a 24-year-old student (to the dismay of his friends and colleagues). He later begins to fall for a middle aged woman, until he learns she is having an affair with his best friend. Depressed and suicidal he begins to write an essay titled ''The young were sent to earth to amuse the old. Why not be amused?''. * What You Want to Do Fine * Real Estate "Ruth, who is dying of cancer, is no longer able to tolerate her husband's affairs. As part of her program of ''nuptial forensics,'' she fixes up a house, learns to fire a pistol and considers taking a lover, musing all the while on her illness: ''The healthy, the feeling well, when they felt that way, couldn't remember feeling any other, couldn't imagine it. They were niftily in their bodies. . . . Whereas the sick could only think of being otherwise. Their hearts, their every other thought, went out to that well person they hated a little but wanted to be. . . . The feeling well were running the show; which was why the world was such a savage place.'' Ruth doubts she has the audacity to act on these insights, yet when this gentle woman does commit an act of spectacular violence, she achieves no catharsis (though the reader feels great satisfaction). Ruth, in fact, may only have made herself sicker" (Taken from ''The New York Times'' review of Birds of America) * People Like That Are The Only People Here: Canonical Babbling in Peed Onk A mother and father (never named in the story) are thrust into the world of Pediatric Oncology (Peed Onk) upon the diagnosis of
Wilm's tumor Wilms' tumor or Wilms tumor, also known as nephroblastoma, is a cancer of the kidneys that typically occurs in children, rarely in adults.; and occurs most commonly as a renal tumor in child patients. It is named after Max Wilms, the German surge ...
in their baby. This story was included in
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules ''Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules'' is a 2005 anthology of short stories edited by David Sedaris. Sedaris published this book in order to support 826NYC, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center in Brooklyn, New York. All of his proc ...
an anthology of short stories edited by David Sedaris and is loosely based on Moore's experience she had with her own son as a baby. * Terrific Mother A woman accidentally causes the death of her friend's baby, and after spending seven months holed up in her attic apartment, she is unable to move on - feeling that "normal" life is no longer possible for her. Further exacerbating her guilt is the fact that friends would often compliment her by stating she would make a "terrific mother".


References


External links

*{{wikiquote-inline, Birds of America, ''Birds of America'' 1998 short story collections American short story collections Alfred A. Knopf books