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Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliver
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Neighbors and Other Stories (edition 2024)

by Diane Oliver (Author), Tayari Jones (Introduction)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
734368,026 (4.14)3
"A bold and haunting debut story collection that follows various characters as they navigate the day-to-day perils of Jim Crow racism from Diane Oliver, a missing figure in the canon of twentieth-century African American literature. A remarkable talent far ahead of her time, Diane Oliver died in 1966 at the age of twenty-two, leaving behind these crisply told and often chilling tales that explore race and racism in 1950s and '60s America. In this first and only collection by a masterful storyteller finally taking her rightful place in the canon, Oliver's insightful stories reverberate into the present day. There's the nightmarish "The Closet on the Top Floor" in which Winifred, the first Black student at her newly integrated college, starts to physically disappear; "Mint Juleps Not Served Here" where a couple living deep in a forest with their son go to bloody lengths to protect him; "Spiders Cry Without Tears," in which a couple, Meg and Walt, are confronted by prejudices of interracial and extramarital love; and the titular story that follows a nervous older sister the night before her brother is set to desegregate his school. These are incisive and intimate portraits of African American families in everyday moments of anxiety and crisis that look at how they use agency to navigate their predicaments. As much a social and historical document as it is a taut, engrossing collection, Neighbors is an exceptional literary feat from a crucial once-lost figure of letters"--… (more)
Member:Sarah-Hope
Title:Neighbors and Other Stories
Authors:Diane Oliver (Author)
Other authors:Tayari Jones (Introduction)
Info:Grove Press (2024), 320 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:None

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Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliver

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Exceptional short fiction,fantastic characterization,written decades ago but none of the stories I have aged. Wonderful,essential work. ( )
  alans | May 24, 2024 |
Neighbors and Other Stories is a remarkable book. It's a "debut" collection being released well after the author passed away in 1966 at the age of 22. These stories look closely at small moments in the Jim Crow south and open up characters' thoughts and motivations as much as their actions. None of the stories are particularly happy, which should come as no surprise. When one's humanity is repeatedly denied on a daily basis, survival becomes and act of resistance, and it makes life an ongoing struggle.

I picked this title up because I was curious about the author, who I wasn't familiar with. Diane Oliver had a remarkable gift. I'm heart-broken that she didn't have more time to teach us her truths—and that so many of those truths have changed so little over time. At the same time, I'm heartened that these stories have finally made their way into the world as a collection and that we can allow Diane Oliver to teach us.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own. ( )
  Sarah-Hope | Apr 4, 2024 |
We are in a hopefully permanent era where Black women authors are being heard and promoted almost on the same level as white writers. Many have written brilliant short story collections, linked and non (Deesha Philyaw, Shannon Sanders, Latoya Watkins), but long before, Diane Oliver was published and on her way to a successful career when she died in a motorcycle accident at age 22, in 1966. This reissue, championed by Tayari Jones, is very strong in character, setting, and in recognition of the hard lives of women in the south who left their own homes and children to care for white families. The first and most moving story reflects the dilemma of a six year old boy's family, who must decide whether or not to have him play the same impossible role as Ruby Bridges had. Integration and romantic relationships between Black and white people are at the forefront here, and it would behoove any detractors of Black history and DEI to read them and then continue to advocate for the easy path of, "Well, my parents didn't own any slaves". ( )
  froxgirl | Mar 2, 2024 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Diane Oliverprimary authorall editionscalculated
Jones, TayariIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jones, TayariIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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"A bold and haunting debut story collection that follows various characters as they navigate the day-to-day perils of Jim Crow racism from Diane Oliver, a missing figure in the canon of twentieth-century African American literature. A remarkable talent far ahead of her time, Diane Oliver died in 1966 at the age of twenty-two, leaving behind these crisply told and often chilling tales that explore race and racism in 1950s and '60s America. In this first and only collection by a masterful storyteller finally taking her rightful place in the canon, Oliver's insightful stories reverberate into the present day. There's the nightmarish "The Closet on the Top Floor" in which Winifred, the first Black student at her newly integrated college, starts to physically disappear; "Mint Juleps Not Served Here" where a couple living deep in a forest with their son go to bloody lengths to protect him; "Spiders Cry Without Tears," in which a couple, Meg and Walt, are confronted by prejudices of interracial and extramarital love; and the titular story that follows a nervous older sister the night before her brother is set to desegregate his school. These are incisive and intimate portraits of African American families in everyday moments of anxiety and crisis that look at how they use agency to navigate their predicaments. As much a social and historical document as it is a taut, engrossing collection, Neighbors is an exceptional literary feat from a crucial once-lost figure of letters"--

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