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Loading... Mid-Air: Two Novellas (edition 2022)by Victoria Shorr (Author)
Work InformationMid-Air: Two Novellas by Victoria Shorr
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. "They were making their fortune, just as we were losing ours. We must have passed at one point in mid-air, one on the way up, us free-falling." Very interesting and thought-provoking concept for a book. Two short novellas: one the story of a family who have lost their prosperity; the other the story of a family starting from nothing and gaining wealth. The stories have absolutely nothing to do with each other; however, the contrast of plots is remarkable. Loved the idea - liked the second story best: the immigrant with nothing who starts selling scrap metal, then owns junkyards and eventually owns much of Santa Barbara. The affect of wealth and the stories that come down from generation to generation are interesting in both families - what is remembered, what is embellished, and what is passed over. no reviews | add a review
"Fate explored in the fall and rise of two twentieth-century American families. Victoria Shorr's remarkable gift for depicting the inner lives of complex characters shines in two powerful explorations of family, ambition, class, and status. In "Great Uncle Edward," a family gathers for dinner. At 93, Great Uncle Edward commands the table in his three-piece suit; Cousin Russell attended both Harvard and Yale but is now reduced to selling off the family books; sisters Betty and Molly are caught between ghosts of a storied past and creeping destitution. These lives are signposts along the downward spiral of an old aristocracy. "Cleveland Auto Wrecking" introduces Sam White, an immigrant from somewhere in eastern Europe. He cannot read, but has a gift for math and an instinct for the value of junk. We follow his clan through the Depression to the postwar boom in the West, where their fortunes soar, creating new tests of loyalty"-- No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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