UMass Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press

Stories

Book Jacket: ""A Private State" by C. Bacon

Charlotte Bacon

Winner of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award

Winner of the Associated Writing Programs Award for Short Fiction

"Bacon's collection of finely wrought stories examines the human condition with rare power. Here is the debut of an author who can look at the state we're in with both a clear, cold eye and extreme warmth and tenderness. As understated as it is elegant, this collection gives us stories about love and luck, sorrow and safety—marriages fall apart, bargains are struck, people are lost as often as they are found. Whether set in Arizona or New Hampshire or Maryland, it is emotional territory charted here—a personal state of mind. Accomplished and complex, A Private State marks the arrival of a writer who will surely continue to chart new territory with honesty and grace."

Citation of the judges for the Ernest Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award

In this "delicate, well-honed first collection of stories, Bacon sends 11 unsettled women in search of 'an authentic place' where they can feel vibrant and assured."

New York Times Book Review

"From page one, it is clear the reader is in the hands of a brilliant and confident writer, equal parts talent and skill. Bacon's precise understatement is an art, never bloodless or sentimental. Things happen quickly; pay attention or miss a gem. . . . Reading this book is like being a child picking through a wonderful toy box."

Independent

"A consistent, sure voice and recurring images (uncontrolled dogs, uncommunicative sisters, unhinged minds, unorthodox Thanksgivings) unite these 11 stories, which range more freely across geography than across thematic boundaries. Most are coming-of-age tales. . . . The loops of meaning coil from story to story, creating a memorable whole that transcends the sum of its parts."

Publishers Weekly

"Her stories are witty, swift, beautifully crafted, and grounded in emotional reality."

Maureen Howard

"Bacon writes with grace and wit, and an appreciation for the magic of language. She also possesses the accomplished writer's remarkable blend of control and daring, and isn't afraid to surprise her reader. . . . A Private State is impressive in every way, a splendid debut and a rare achievement."

George Cuomo

Charlotte Bacon teaches English at the University of New Hampshire and is author of a novel, Lost Geography.

Fiction
192 pp., LC 97-14672
$27.50s cloth, ISBN 978-1-55849-114-4
$21.95t paper, ISBN 978-1-55849-397-1
1997 cloth, April 2003 paper
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