267:, Wycoff said that the stories were based on the "political truth" that "single mothers fall through the cracks in this country, and the cracks grow in proportion to these women's economic challenges, making inaccessible the so-called American Dream". She explained that, though she drew on her own experiences as a single mother, the stories were not autobiographical.
281:
Wycoff's primary aim is to alight on the story of Beth and her mother from every angle. But behind this is a broader ambition: to show how riddled with pitfalls any attempted escape from the
American underclass is. The hazards, Wycoff shows, are psychological as much as they are physical or economic.
295:
as her creative muse and mentor, Wycoff noted, "she helped me see that the disparate single-mother stories I'd written could be linked." Wycoff explained, "In a linked-story format, I can present other points of view as short pieces of contrast. I wanted to structure the book so that it begins and
475:
Wycoff portrays the gritty, sorrowful elements of her characters' lives head-on and offers no easy solutions—no one's riding up on a white horse, but neither are the stories bleak. Instead, drama and tension are delivered in such a subtle but detail infused way that the reader becomes invested in
182:
revolve around the life of young professional
Elizabeth Dinard, who has escaped an impoverished and abusive childhood in New Jersey but still suffers its effects in adulthood. Each story, told from the perspective of Beth herself or one of the people around her, explores a different period of her
377:, "This is one grim, tough, upsetting book. Yet it's also shot through with a painful radiance and level intelligence that keep you with it every step of the way." He praised Wycoff's "sharp ear for how speech can signal a gulf between social realities impossible to bridge".
31:
300:, "The second I wrote when my son was two years old. I wrote it, in part, in reaction to all of the sentimental, dreamy writing about motherhood." Noting that most writing about motherhood is "so ebullient and romantic", Wycoff told
276:
wrote that the book recognizes "how even the most toxic family connections have some kind of love threaded through them", and notes that "its heroine, even in the worst circumstances, keeps fierce hold of her dignity". He added:
452:
praised it as "deeply moving, deftly told, and keenly insightful", and Aimee Liu called it "a harrowing portrait of familial pain, mental illness, and the sometimes cruel tenacity of love". Reviewing the collection for
313:, Wycoff said, "I got about seven rejections over the course of four years, all from small presses, many of whom called the collection 'too dark'." Picked up by small publisher
282:
The isolation Beth feels from every form of social stability undermines almost all her connections with people, no matter how responsibly or industriously she conducts herself.
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158:, it explores the troubled life of young professional Beth Dinard from the perspective of the character herself as well as others around her.
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484:, "The virtue of the book is the way it deals with topics that have become clichés through characters who aren't clichés. The psychology in
359:). "Afterbirth" and "Visiting Mrs. Ferullo" won the second annual Heartland Short Fiction Prize in 1999. "Afterbirth" was also excerpted in
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ends with a death, because I wanted it to read as a cycle. Linearity, to me, seems more of a construct than cycles." She told
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this honest, accurate and unapologetic ... None of this "emerging writer" stuff — this writer is here.
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that "there are a lot of mothers out there who don't feel that way about motherhood at all."
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467:"for its depictions of poor women and lesbian relationships", Gretchen Kalwinsky wrote for
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459:, Garin Cycholl wrote that "the book sings violently and truly". Comparing
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wrote, "Stripped of sentimentality and sanguinity, Corrina Wycoff 's
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called the collection "a straightforward look at pain and renewal".
977:"20th Annual Lambda Literary Awards: Recipients and Finalists"
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makes you think of great writers in strange combinations:
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is a relentless stare into the dark yawn of brutality."
621:: Strong first novel of a painful mother-daughter bond"
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in Spring 2007 in conjunction with the book's release.
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Three of the stories have been published previously: "
138:
2007 short story collection written by
Corrina Wycoff
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580:Frizzelle, Christopher (April 26, 2007).
538:Kalwinsky, Gretchen (March 15–21, 2007).
476:Beth's plight early on in the collection.
420:. It's been a long time since I've seen
950:Cycholl, Garin (Summer 2007). "Review:
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252:"Read Me Through the Bardo, Won't You?"
911:
909:
1014:LGBTQ literature in the United States
7:
975:Gonzalez, Antonio (April 30, 2007).
615:Upchurch, Michael (April 20, 2007).
339:
647:Frangello, Gina (March 23, 2006).
14:
1034:2007 LGBTQ-related literary works
154:. Called a "novel-in-stories" by
1009:American short story collections
480:Christopher Frizzelle wrote for
321:, the title of the first story.
329:
56:Melissa C. Lucar (cover design)
678:Heartland Short Fiction Prize"
428:Describing the collection as "
309:While seeking a publisher for
189:"The Wrong Place in the World"
1:
1024:LGBTQ short story collections
505:Lesbian Debut Fiction in 2007
349:
210:"Where We're Going This Time"
178:The ten stories collected in
168:Lesbian Debut Fiction in 2007
1004:2007 short story collections
925:University of Illinois Press
686:. March 1999. Archived from
488:is nuanced and feels true."
319:The Wrong Place in the World
85:University of Illinois Press
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651:. GinaFrangello.blogs.com
261:In a 2007 interview with
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18:O Street (disambiguation)
810:Wycoff, Corrina (2007).
778:Wycoff, Corrina (2006).
746:Wycoff, Corrina (2006).
723:(2): 139. Archived from
709:Wycoff, Corrina (1999).
437:A Million Little Pieces
287:Writing and publication
203:"Visiting Mrs. Ferullo"
1029:2000s LGBTQ literature
927:. 2007. Archived from
812:"Labor and Management"
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150:collection written by
674:"1999 Award winners:
540:"Chicks and Balances"
501:Lambda Literary Award
164:Lambda Literary Award
979:. LambdaLiterary.org
954:by Corrina Wycoff".
499:was nominated for a
270:Michael Upchurch of
162:was nominated for a
16:For other uses, see
1019:Literature by women
683:Poets & Writers
649:"Other Voices Blog"
54:Robin Hann (photo)
35:First edition cover
25:
921:by Corrina Wycoff"
888:by Corrina Wycoff"
389:praised the book:
373:Upchurch wrote of
859:. January 8, 2007
856:Publishers Weekly
626:The Seattle Times
380:Publishers Weekly
273:The Seattle Times
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131:978-0-97671-772-0
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238:"The Shell Game"
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981:. Retrieved
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929:the original
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785:Other Voices
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725:the original
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711:"Afterbirth"
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692:. Retrieved
688:the original
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587:The Stranger
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983:October 10,
716:New Letters
676:New Letters
450:Alex Shakar
434:blown into
414:Joan Didion
335:New Letters
148:short story
998:Categories
851:: Stories"
827:(3): 15–16
780:"O Street"
511:References
442:Cris Mazza
422:naturalism
330:Afterbirth
293:Cris Mazza
217:"O Street"
146:is a 2007
957:Rain Taxi
593:April 14,
456:Rain Taxi
410:McCullers
369:Reception
245:"The Cat"
224:"Leaving"
77:Publisher
24:O Street
952:O Street
935:April 4,
919:O Street
892:OV Books
886:O Street
849:O Street
632:April 4,
619:O Street
554:April 6,
497:O Street
486:O Street
461:O Street
446:O Street
394:O Street
375:O Street
357:magazine
350:O Street
348:), and "
323:O Street
315:OV Books
311:O Street
180:O Street
174:Contents
160:O Street
156:OV Books
143:O Street
81:OV Books
61:Language
898:July 1,
863:July 1,
831:July 1,
795:July 1,
763:July 1,
731:July 1,
694:July 1,
655:July 1,
398:Dreiser
64:English
894:. 2007
492:Awards
406:Wright
352:" (in
342:" (in
332:" (in
257:Themes
41:Author
815:(PDF)
543:(PDF)
402:Welty
117:Pages
69:Genre
985:2010
964:(2).
937:2016
900:2014
865:2014
833:2014
797:2014
765:2014
733:2014
696:2014
657:2014
634:2016
595:2016
556:2016
503:for
416:and
408:and
400:and
338:), "
166:for
126:ISBN
440:",
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