Final Vinyl Days: And Other Stories
by Jill McCorkle
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Description
When Jill McCorkle feels a short story coming on, she goes right ahead and "wastes" wonderful ideas instead of hoarding them for a novel. The result is another extraordinary collection of stories and characters. In "It's a Funeral! RSVP," the storyteller is a woman who takes up self-styled "careers" that suit her circumstances. Now she's stumbled onto one that's so successful that she just can't quit. It's planning funerals, what she calls Going Out Parties, in which the clients are the show more soon-to-be-deceased themselves. In "Life Prerecorded," perhaps McCorkle's finest short piece to date, the pregnant narrator finds the real meaning of new life by visiting with a very old neighbor who's waiting, too, for his own new life. In these and the rest of the nine stories, Jill McCorkle acts on her penchant for taming the outrageous, humanizing the forbidden, and grounding the hilarious. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
I don't know if this is true of many other men, but I tend to read mainly male writers. I am trying to remedy this, and this collection is part of that effort.
I appreciated this author's viewpoint and found the stories entertaining and occasionally enlightening. Of particular interest to me were the last two stories, 'It's a Funeral! RSVP' about a woman who throws funerals for a living. This spoke to me, I believe, due to the recent death of my Mother-in-law. The final story, 'The Anatomy of Man' deals with religion and desire. Raised in a Christian household I found some of the observations disquieting.
Well written and enjoyable collection.
I appreciated this author's viewpoint and found the stories entertaining and occasionally enlightening. Of particular interest to me were the last two stories, 'It's a Funeral! RSVP' about a woman who throws funerals for a living. This spoke to me, I believe, due to the recent death of my Mother-in-law. The final story, 'The Anatomy of Man' deals with religion and desire. Raised in a Christian household I found some of the observations disquieting.
Well written and enjoyable collection.
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Southern Fiction
212 works; 52 members
Author Information
19+ Works 2,191 Members
Five of Jill McCorkle's seven previous books have been named New York Times Notable Books. Winner of the New England Book Award, the John Dos Passos Award for Literature, and the North Carolina Award for Literature, she lives near Boston with her husband, their two children, several dogs, and a collection of toads.
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- Members
- 155
- Popularity
- 210,637
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.83)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
