Cutting edge : new stories of mystery and crime by women writers

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Title:

Cutting edge : new stories of mystery and crime by women writers

ISBN:

9781617757617

Physical Description:

234 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Genre:

Short stories.

Added Author:

Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938-

Summary:

"This collection of feminist crime tales edited by the one and only Joyce Carol Oates is marketed to 'readers who are sick and tired of the status quo, or who just want to have a little bit of fun at the expense of a crumbling patriarchal society.' Well, isn't that everyone?" --CrimeReads, included in the Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2019 "The 15 stories and six poems in this slim yet weighty all-original noir anthology--contributors include Margaret Atwood and Edwidge Danticat--are razor-sharp and relentless in their portrayal of life, offering snapshots of dysfunction, everyday toil, and brief joy...Each story sears but does not cauterize, leaving protagonists and readers raw. As Oates points out in her introduction, and the stories hauntingly evoke, noir's strength has very little to do with man-centric plots and everything to do with female ascendance. Fans of contemporary crime fiction won't want to miss this one." --Publishers Weekly "'Is there a distinctive female noir?' asks Oates in her introduction. This collection may not settle that question, but it goes a long way toward supplying candidates for an emerging canon. There are 15 stories here, all but one of them new, and half a dozen new poems...the average [story] is high enough to satisfy readers of all genders." --Kirkus Reviews "This collection enlivens...flattened archetypes by retelling the noir narrative from the new perspectives of teenage girls, women hired hands, and mothers of children." --Book Riot, included in 9 of the Best Noir Fiction Retellings "This all original anthology features 15 stories, in which a lot of bad men get their comeuppances, by Steph Cha, Edwidge Danticat, S.J. Rozan, and other women authors. Margaret Atwood contributes six poems." --Publishers Weekly, Fall 2019 Adult Announcements (Mysteries & Thrillers) "All of the stories in this collection are excellent, and I definitely recommend it for any connoisseur of noir looking to expand their repertoire with women writers." --BookRiot, included in a list of "Noir by Women, Not Just Femme Fatales" Joyce Carol Oates, a queenpin of the noir genre, has brought her keen and discerning eye to the curation of an outstanding anthology of brand-new top-shelf short stories (and poems by Margaret Atwood!). While bad men are not always the victims in these tales, they get their due often enough to satisfy readers who are sick and tired of the gendered status quo, or who just want to have a little bit of fun at the expense of a crumbling patriarchal society. This stylistically diverse collection will make you squirm in your seat, stay up at night, laugh out loud, and inevitably wish for more. Featuring brand-new stories by: Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood (poems), Valerie Martin, Aimee Bender, Edwidge Danticat, Sheila Kohler, S.A. Solomon, S.J. Rozan, Lucy Taylor, Cas

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	MYSTERY CUT	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

"Each voice is different, each story providing its own appeal, its own approach to the nature of crime, and in most instances, what it means to live in a female body in a largely hostile world." --Brooklyn Rail

Joyce Carol Oates, a queenpin of the noir genre, has brought her keen and discerning eye to the curation of an outstanding anthology of brand-new top-shelf short stories (and poems by Margaret Atwood!). While bad men are not always the victims in these tales, they get their due often enough to satisfy readers who are sick and tired of the gendered status quo, or who just want to have a little bit of fun at the expense of a crumbling patriarchal society. This stylistically diverse collection will make you squirm in your seat, stay up at night, laugh out loud, and inevitably wish for more.

Featuring brand-new stories by: Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood (poems), Valerie Martin, Aimee Bender, Edwidge Danticat, Sheila Kohler, S.A. Solomon, S.J. Rozan, Lucy Taylor, Cassandra Khaw, Bernice L. McFadden, Jennifer Morales, Elizabeth McCracken, Livia Llewellyn, Lisa Lim, and Steph Cha.

Author Notes

Joyce Carol Oates is the author of a number of works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. She is the editor of New Jersey Noir and Prison Noir and a recipient of the National Book Award, the PEN America Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Humanities Medal, and a World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey, and was recently inducted into the American Philosophical Society.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

The 15 stories and six poems in this slim yet weighty all-original noir anthology--contributors include Margaret Atwood and Edwidge Danticat--are razor-sharp and relentless in their portrayal of life, offering snapshots of dysfunction, everyday toil, and brief joy. It is unusual, however, in its scope, zeroing in not only on what the female characters endure but what they dish out, as shown in Valerie Martin's "Il Grifone" and S.A. Solomon's "Impala." Though the compilation is often bleak and disturbing (Cassandra Khaw's "Mothers, We Dream" comes to mind), it is also startlingly imaginative in characterization and setting, and at times wickedly funny (cue Bernice L. McFadden's "OBF, Inc."). Each story sears but does not cauterize, leaving protagonists and readers raw. As Oates points out in her introduction, and the stories hauntingly evoke, noir's strength has very little to do with man-centric plots and everything to do with female ascendance. Fans of contemporary crime fiction won't want to miss this one. Agent: Warren Frazier, John Hawkins & Assoc. (Nov.)

Kirkus Review

"Is there a distinctive female noir?" asks Oates (The Pursuit, 2019, etc.) in her introduction. This collection may not settle that question, but it goes a long way toward supplying candidates for an emerging canon.There are 15 stories here, all but one of them new, and half a dozen new poems. From Aimee Bender's enigmatic "Firetown," in which a female private eye searches for a missing husband and cat on behalf of a client whose motives are even more mysterious than the disappearance, to Cassandra Khaw's fablelike "Mothers, We Dream," in which the man who's miraculously survived a shipwreck finds himself hemmed in by both his female interrogator and his female associates, these stories show empowered women either running roughshod over men or ignoring them entirely. Even the heroines of Livia Llewellyn's "One of These Nights," S.J. Rozan's "A History of the World in Five Objects," S.A. Solomon's "Impala," and Sheila Kohler's "Miss Martin," all victims of abusive men, find unexpected ways to transform their victimhood into violent agency. Lisa Lim's heavily illustrated "The Hunger" dramatizes a savage mode of female mourning; Edwidge Danticat's "Please Translate," first published in 2014, collects 41 frantic phone messages from a woman to the husband who's run off with their son; Margaret Atwood's six poems include meditations on female werewolves and the maternal side of the Sirens; Oates' own "Assassin" follows a woman who methodically hatches and executes a plan to decapitate the prime minister. The women here are equally comfortablethat is, equally disturbingwhen they're cast as reluctant detectives, as in Steph Cha's "Thief," witnesses to possible crimes, as in Elizabeth McCracken's "An Early Specimen," accused murderers, as in Valerie Martin's "Il Grifone," or potential healers, as in Lucy Taylor's "Too Many Lunatics" and Jennifer Morales' "The Boy Without a Bike." The punchline of the one story with a male lead, Bernice L. McFadden's "OBF, Inc.," entirely justifies its outlier status.Not every story will be to every taste, but the average is high enough to satisfy readers of all genders. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

In crime fiction, the preponderance of narrative, action, and authorship is male, with women being the victim more often than the perpetrator, and men serving as the force behind these ill intentions. Oates' stellar anthology of female noir turns this equation on its head, collecting new work by 16 notable female authors, including Oates herself, to demonstrate what happens when women are in charge. The result is an inclusive homage to the female/feminist perspective. Aimee Bender channels the great private investigators of yore in her edgy, lustrous tale of a woman in search of her missing husband and cat. Valerie Martin's heroine exacts delicious if ambiguous revenge on a gorgon-like creature who torments her otherwise idyllic Roman holiday in Il Grifone, and Margaret Atwood delights and titillates with six provocatively piercing poems. Taken as a whole, the collection is a surreal yet satisfying journey into the darker side of the female consciousness, a book that, for all its murk and mayhem, celebrates feminine strength, cunning, and determination.--Carol Haggas Copyright 2019 Booklist

Library Journal Review

Each story in this collection is unique, sharing only female centricity. Rebellious teenagers go too far in a swimming pool in "One of These Nights" by Livia Llewellyn. A grieving mother faces the boy she wishes would've died in Steph Cha's "Thief." In "A History of the World in Five Objects" by S.J. Rozan, a lonely woman expresses her love of her mother's yellow plate in a sinister memory. In S.A. Solomon's "Impala," a teen girl on the run remembers her past. Especially of note are "Assassin" by Oates, who edited the collection, and "Too Many Lunatics'' by Lucy Taylor. Some entries are funny, some sad, and some just plain scary, but all are precisely rendered by Xe Sands who beautifully handles the many accents and characters in the various locales. The book is further enhanced by several new poems by Margaret Atwood. VERDICT Great for fans of Laura Van Der Berg's The Isle of Youth. Featuring feminist themes and an all-star lineup of writers, this collection of noir, crime, and mystery short stories is not to be missed.--Terry Ann Lawler, Burton Barr Library, Phoenix

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

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