Publications
The State We’re In
Ann Beattie
The State We’re In is the first new collection in a decade from the writer that John Updike credited with creating ‘an entirely different kind of short story’. Cool, ironic and witty, these stories are sharply observed, but underpinned with a quiet tenderness.
Told through the voices of vivid and engaging women of all ages, The State We’re In explores their doubts and desires and reveals the unexpected moments and glancing epiphanies of daily life. Some of Beattie’s idiosyncratic and compelling characters have arrived in the coastal state of Maine by accident, while others are trying to escape. The collection is woven around Jocelyn, a disaffected teenager living with her aunt and uncle for the summer, forging new friendships, avoiding her mother’s calls, taking writing classes, and encountering mortality for the first time.
Beattie’s voice is mesmerising and her keen insight into the human heart cuts through our preconceptions and prejudices. The State We’re In is a pitch-perfect meditation on the singular strangeness of life.
£12.99
Ann Beattie on Granta.com
|
Issue 133
Lady Neptune
Ann Beattie
‘The word money popped up like a bit of the ocean’s detritus riding in on a wave, but her lips formed the words ‘Merry Christmas’.’
|
Issue 126
The Indian Uprising
Ann Beattie
‘Then winter ended and spring came, and I thought, even if I don’t believe there’s a poem in anything any more, maybe I’ll write a story.’
|
Issue 126
Anecdotes
Ann Beattie
‘Christine’s hair had begun to dry, and she looked different, with her hair down and her glasses on. Her earnestness made her look younger, and took me back to the bar where we’d sat in Pennsylvania years ago.’
|
Issue 126
Lavande
Ann Beattie
‘It seemed impossible, but probably everyone marries thinking such a thing impossible.’
