First Sightings: Contemporary Stories About American Youth

by John Loughery (Editor)

Overview

"With its gamut of emotions, issues and real-life situations, this volume provides high quality reading that all Americans can identify with."—Publishers Weekly

Twenty stories, arranged by age of the protagonists, from 4 to 18. Contributors include Barbara Kingsolver, John Updike, Ethan Canin, Ernest J. Gaines, Gish Jen, Alice Walker, Michael Chabon, Toni Cade Bambara, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780892553792
Publisher:	Persea Books
Publication date:	01/09/2011
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

John Loughery is the author of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize finalist John Sloan: Painter and Rebel and has edited the anthologies First Sightings: Contemporary Stories of American Youth, Into the Widening World: International Coming-of-Age Stories, and The Eloquent Essay: An Anthology of Classic & Creative Nonfiction. He teaches English at the Nightingale-Bamford School in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

The postwar American authors whose work Loughery ( Alias S. S. Van Dine ) has gathered here provide a wide-ranging reading of what it means to be young in America. With many heavy-hitters (including John Updike and Alice Walker) and a solid multicultural representation (including Tony Cade Bambara, Gish Jen), this collection plumbs the depths of innocence, awkwardness, confusion and wonder in a variety of childhood circumstances. Domestic problems, such as sexual and emotional abuse and divorce, are taken up in diverse ways. The theme of the death of a parent, grandparent or sibling also recurs throughout. Sexual and gender identity confusion appears, most powerfully in Richard McCann's story of a boy who dresses up in his mother's clothes. A few comic pieces provide balance, such as Philip Roth's classic story of a boy in Hebrew school who causes a rabbi grief with questions about the omnipotence of God. Jen's exploration of a Chinese girl's entry into a private school where she is a well-liked, exotic artifact is also quite funny. With its gamut of emotions, issues and real-life situations, this volume provides high quality reading that all Americans can identify with. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A lovely anthology featuring 20 thematically related short stories highlighting the multifaceted nature of the coming-of-age process in contemporary America. Arranged chronologically by the age of the principal character in each work, this collection invites the reader to embark on a spiritual, emotional, and physical journey through early childhood and adolescence. Ranging in age from 3 to 18, the protagonists also represent a variety of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, providing an appropriately heterogeneous illustration of American youth. An intimate evolutionary passage provided by a host of noteworthy authors, including John Updike, Genaro Gonzalez, Philip Roth, Joyce Carol Oates, Carson McCullers, and Alice Walker. Enthusiastically recommended for larger short story collections.

Margaret Flanagan