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THE PUSHCART PRIZE XIX

Name: THE PUSHCART PRIZE XIX
Author: Bill Henderson
ISBN: 0-916366-92-8

BEST OF THE SMALL PRESSES

edited by Bill Henderson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1994

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It's hard not to get too excited about the latest enormous volume of the best of the noncommercial world of short stories, poetry, and essays. One could easily take it as a sign that the independent publishing community has finally broken free from the shackles of academia and is asserting its voice—actually a whole range of voices that fiercely push themselves forward to be heard. There are a few big names, like Louise Erdrich, Louise GlÅck, and Charles Baxter, but they mostly contribute thoughtful, interesting literary essays. The collection really sings, though, with the sound of rousing newcomers. Some authors have had little or no previous work published, like Bliss Broyard with her graceful story ``My Father, Dancing,'' and Charles D'Ambrosio with ``Jacinta,'' an evocation of quiet desperation in rural Oregon. Several entries are strikingly original in form and content, namely Eugene Stein's story of ultimate anarchism in ``The Triumph of the Prague Workers' Councils'' and George Williams's manic fantasy in ``The Road From Damascus.'' Nonliterary essays offer eloquent views on such subjects as the power of giving messages in Brenda Miller's ``A Thousand Buddahs'' and on the death of great dogs in Vicki Hearne's ``Oyez Beaumont.'' Many of the contributors bring with them the cultural heritage of recent immigration or displacement, most successfully in Marilyn Chin's long poem ``A Portrait of the Self as Nation, 19901991'' and Josip Novakovich's story of survival in Yugoslavia in ``Honey in the Carcase.'' African-Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos are also well represented, but there are no dominant themes, issues, or points of view, and there are surprisingly few duds in a collection this varied. Much has been written about the fall of prose in America, the result of an attention-span-impaired generation, of evil conglomerate book publishers, of stultifying university writing programs, but this latest volume of the Pushcart Prize offers ample evidence that there are many who are able and willing to pick up the fallen banner of the written word. A surprising, vital collection that should hearten all serious readers.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-916366-92-8

Page Count: 608

Publisher: Pushcart

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1994

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
PUSHCART PRIZE L
by Bill Henderson & edited by Pushcart Prize editors

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PUSHCART PRIZE XLIX
edited by Bill Henderson with Pushcart Prize editors

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PUSHCART PRIZE XLVIII
edited by Bill Henderson

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.

Pub Date: July 11, 1960

ISBN: 0060935464

Page Count: 323

Publisher: Lippincott

Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LAND OF SWEET FOREVER
by Harper Lee ; edited by Casey Cep

- BOOK REVIEW
GO SET A WATCHMAN
by Harper Lee

- SEEN & HEARD
The Snowy Day Is NYC Library’s Most Popular Book

- SEEN & HEARD
ALA Releases List of 2020’s Most Challenged Books

- SEEN & HEARD
NYT Readers Voting on Best Book of Past 125 Years

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DISTANT SHORES

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2002

Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her...

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Another middle-aged mom in a muddle.

After years of false starts and big hopes, Elizabeth’s ruggedly handsome husband Jack, a former football star, just landed a spot as a sportscaster on national news. He still loves her, even though much younger women are giving him come-hither looks. Heck, he doesn’t want to betray the love of his life after she helped him kick drugs and stuck by him even when he was a struggling has-been. And won’t it seem hypocritical if he fools around with his sexy assistant while he does in-depth reporting on a rape case involving a famous basketball center? Well, he fools around anyway. Elizabeth, nicknamed Birdie, knows nothing of this, but she withdraws from Jack when her hard-drinking, salt-of-the-earth father has a stroke and dies. Now no one will call her “sugar beet” ever again. Time to return home to Tennessee and contend with Anita, the sort-of-evil stepmother so trashy she wears pink puffy slippers all day long. Naturally, it turns out that Anita actually has a heart of gold and knows a few things about Birdie’s dead mother that were hushed up for years. Mom was an artist, just like Birdie, and an old scandal comes to light as Anita unrolls a vibrant canvas that portrays her secret lover. Perhaps, Birdie muses, her mother died of heartbreak, never having followed her true love or developed her talent. Has she, too, compromised everything she holds dear? Hoping to find out, Birdie joins a support group that promises to reconnect confused women with their passion. She and Jack separate, prompting a how-dare-you fit from their grown daughters. Will Birdie fly her empty nest? Will she go back to college for a degree in art? Will her brooding watercolors ever sell?

Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her previous tales (Summer Island, 2001, etc.).