Honeydew: Stories

A new story collection from Edith Pearlman, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and finalist for the National Book Award for her last collection, Binocular Vision. From the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of Binocular Vision, Honeydew further solidifies Edith Pearlman's place among the likes of all-time great story writers such as John Updike, Alice Munro, Frank O'Connor, and Anton Chekhov.

Pearlman writes about the predicaments of being human. The title story involves an affair, an illegitimate pregnancy, anorexia, and adolescent drug use, but the real excitement comes from the intricate attention Pearlman devotes to the interior life of young Emily, who wishes she were a bug. In "Sonny", a mother prays for her daughters to be barren so they never have to experience the death of a child. "The Golden Swan" transports the listener to a cruise ship with lavish buffets-and a surprise stowaway.

In prose that is as wise as it is poetic, Pearlman shines light on small, devastatingly precise moments to reflect the beauty and grace found in everyday life. She maps the psychological landscapes of her exquisitely rendered characters with unending compassion and seeming effortlessness.

Both for its artistry and for the lives of the characters it presents, Honeydew is a collection that will pull listeners back time and again. These stories demonstrate once more that Pearlman is a master of the form and that hers is a vision unfailingly wise and forgiving.