by Joan Silber
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published May 13th 2013 by “W. W. Norton & Company”
ISBN 0393088707 (ISBN13: 9780393088700)
Blurb
A dazzling new collection of interconnected stories by the National Book Award finalist.
When is it wise to be a fool for something? What makes people want to be better than they are? From New York to India to Paris, from the Catholic Worker movement to Occupy Wall Street, the characters in Joan Silber’s dazzling new story cycle tackle this question head-on.
Vera, the shy, anarchist daughter of missionary parents, leaves her family for love and activism in New York. A generation later, her own doubting daughter insists on the truth of being of two minds, even in marriage. The adulterous son of a Florida hotel owner steals money from his family and departs for Paris, where he takes up with a young woman and finds himself outsmarted in turn. Fools ponders the circle of winners and losers, dupers and duped, and the price we pay for our beliefs.
Fools is a luminous, intelligent, and rewarding work of fiction from the author for whom the Boston Globe said, “No other writer can make a few small decisions ripple across the globe, and across time, with more subtlety and power.”
Mini Review
I absolutely loved this book. I always enjoy short story collections, and I really liked how this collection allowed the characters to play off of one another and interact cross-story. Not only that, but it spanned multiple generations, linking not only people but time periods. The tone was simple, poetic, and informal, allowing the reader to feel immediately comfortable with the characters while jumping between stories. I think my favorite aspect of this collection, however, was the way it showcased how one event or one person can completely change our lives without having any idea whatsoever they have done so. This realization was insightful, powerful, and humbling all at the same time. I have never read anything by Silber before, but I know I’ll be watching for any new collections she releases in the future, crossing my fingers they are all as good as this was.
