Bøger af Elizabeth McCracken

The American Child by Elizabeth McCracken is a collection of short stories that explores the lives of children and their families in America. The stories are told from various perspectives, including that of the children themselves, their parents, and other adults in their lives. The book covers a wide range of topics, such as family dynamics, friendships, loss, and the struggles of growing up. The stories are both heartwarming and heartbreaking, and they offer a unique insight into the experiences of American children. McCracken's writing is poignant and evocative, capturing the complexities and nuances of childhood with great sensitivity. The American Child is a beautifully written and thought-provoking book that will resonate with readers of all ages.We hear a great deal at the present time concerning the education of the ""particular child."" In the very best of our private schools in the city each pupil is regarded as a separate and distinct individual, and taught as such. This ideal condition of things prevailed in that little district school in the farming region of New Hampshire. That teacher had fourteen pupils; practically, she had fourteen ""grades."" Even when it happened that two children were taught the same lesson, each one was taught it individually.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

The American Child is a classic parenting handbook by Elizabeth McCracken. Few of us will agree with the English woman that the child, the American child, is the only subject upon which we converse. Certainly, though, it is a favorite subject; it may even not inaptly be called our national subject. Whatever our various views concerning this may chance to be, however, it is likely that we are all in entire agreement with regard to the other matter touched upon by the English woman, --the pervasiveness of American children.

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A taut, groundbreaking new novel from bestselling and award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken, about a writer's relationship with her larger-than-life mother?and about the very nature of writing, memory, and artTen months after her mother's death, the narrator of The Hero of This Book takes a trip to London. The city was a favorite of her mother's, and as the narrator wanders the streets, she finds herself reflecting on her mother's life and their relationship. Thoughts of the past meld with questions of the future: back in New England, the family home is now for sale, its considerable contents already winnowed.The woman, a writer, recalls all that made her complicated mother extraordinary?her brilliant wit, her generosity, her unbelievable obstinacy, her sheer will in seizing life despite physical difficulties?and finds herself wondering how her mother had endured. Even though she wants to respect her mother's nearly pathological sense of privacy, the woman must come to terms with whether making a chronicle of this remarkable life constitutes an act of love or betrayal.The Hero of This Book is a searing examination of grief and renewal, and of a deeply felt relationship between a child and her parents. What begins as a question of filial devotion ultimately becomes a lesson in what it means to write. At once comic and heartbreaking, with prose that delights at every turn, this is a novel of such piercing love and tenderness that we are reminded that art is what remains when all else falls away.

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND THE STORY PRIZEAward-winning author Elizabeth McCracken is an undisputed virtuoso of the short story, and this new collection features her most vibrant and heartrending work to dateIn these stories, the mysterious bonds of family are tested, transformed, fractured, and fortified. A recent widower and his adult son ferry to a craggy Scottish island in search of puffins. An actress who plays a children's game-show villainess ushers in the New Year with her deadbeat half brother. A mother, pining for her children, feasts on loaves of challah to fill the void. A new couple navigates a tightrope walk toward love. And on a trip to a Texas water park with their son, two fathers each confront a personal fear. With sentences that crackle and spark and showcase her trademark wit, McCracken traces how our closely held desires?for intimacy, atonement, comfort?bloom and wither against the indifferent passing of time. Her characters embark on journeys that leave them indelibly changed?and so do her readers. The Souvenir Museum showcases the talents of one of our finest contemporary writers as she tenderly takes the pulse of our collective and individual lives.

From the day she is discovered unconscious in a New England cemetery at the turn of the twentieth century?nothing but a bowling ball, a candlepin, and fifteen pounds of gold on her person?Bertha Truitt is an enigma to everyone in Salford, Massachusetts. Her mysterious origin scandalizes the townspeople, as does her choice to marry the doctor who revived her. But Bertha is tenacious and entrepreneurial, and the bowling alley she opens quickly becomes Salford's defining landmark.When Bertha dies in a freak accident, a heretofore-unheard-of son arrives in Salford, claiming he is heir apparent to Truitt's Alleys. Soon it becomes clear that Bertha's spirit lives on, infecting and affecting future generations through inheritance battles, murky paternities, and hidden wills.Laced with insight and sharp humor, Bowlaway is a brilliant unraveling of a family's myths and secrets, its passions and betrayals, and the ties that bind and the rifts that divide.

The singular, enchanting debut story collection from Elizabeth McCracken, now back in print as part of Ecco's "Art of the Story" series, and with a new introduction from the author.Called "astonishingly assured" by The Guardian, the nine stories that make up Elizabeth McCracken's debut story collection deal with oddball characters doing their very best to forge connections with those around them.In "It's Bad Luck to Die" a woman marries an older tattoo artist and finds comfort in agreeing to act as a canvas for his most elaborate work. "Some Have Entertained Angels, Unaware" follows a young girl as she comes face to face with a cast of eccentrics her recently-widowed father has invited to live in their expansive but dilapidated home. And in the title story, a young man and his wife are perplexed when an outspoken old woman shows up on their doorstep for a visit, claiming to be a distant aunt, even though she can't be traced on a family tree.At once captivating and offbeat, Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry is a dazzling showcase of the early years of Elizabeth McCracken's prodigious talent.

One of the most acclaimed writers of our day, award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken is an undisputed virtuoso of the short story, and this new collection features her most vibrant and heartrending work to date. In these stories, the mysterious bonds of family are tested, transformed, fractured, and fortified.

A sweeping and enchanting new novel from the widely beloved, award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken about three generations of an unconventional New England family who own and operate a candlepin bowling alley.From the day she is discovered unconscious in a New England cemetery at the turn of the twentieth century--nothing but a bowling ball, a candlepin, and fifteen pounds of gold on her person--Bertha Truitt is an enigma to everyone in Salford, Massachusetts. She has no past to speak of, or at least none she is willing to reveal, and her mysterious origin scandalizes and intrigues the townspeople, as does her choice to marry and start a family with Leviticus Sprague, the doctor who revived her. But Bertha is plucky, tenacious, and entrepreneurial, and the bowling alley she opens quickly becomes Salford's most defining landmark--with Bertha its most notable resident.When Bertha dies in a freak accident, her past resurfaces in the form of a heretofore-unheard-of son, who arrives in Salford claiming he is heir apparent to Truitt Alleys. Soon it becomes clear that, even in her death, Bertha's defining spirit and the implications of her obfuscations live on, infecting and affecting future generations through inheritance battles, murky paternities, and hidden wills.In a voice laced with insight and her signature sharp humor, Elizabeth McCracken has written an epic family saga set against the backdrop of twentieth-century America. Bowlaway is both a stunning feat of language and a brilliant unraveling of a family's myths and secrets, its passions and betrayals, and the ties that bind and the rifts that divide.

By turns graceful and knowing, funny and moving, Niagara Falls All Over Again is the latest masterwork by National Book Award finalist and author of The Giant's House, Elizabeth McCracken. Spanning the waning years of vaudeville and the golden age of Hollywood, Niagara Falls All Over Again chronicles a flawed, passionate friendship over thirty years, weaving a powerful story of family and love, grief and loss. In it, McCracken introduces her most singular and affecting hero: Mose Sharp—son, brother, husband, father, friend ... and straight man to the fat guy in baggy pants who utterly transforms his life.To the paying public, Mose Sharp was the arch, colorless half of the comedy team Carter and Sharp. To his partner, he was charmed and charming, a confirmed bachelor who never failed at love and romance. To his father and sisters, Mose was a prodigal son. And in his own heart and soul, he would always be a boy who once had a chance to save a girl's life—a girl who would be his first, and greatest, loss.Born into a Jewish family in small-town Iowa, the only boy among six sisters, Mose Sharp couldn't leave home soon enough. By sixteen Mose had already joined the vaudeville circuit. But he knew one thing from the start: "I needed a partner,” he recalls. "I had always needed a partner.”Then, an ebullient, self-destructive comedian named Rocky Carter came crashing into his life—and a thirty-year partnership was born. But as the comedy team of Carter and Sharp thrived from the vaudeville backwaters to Broadway to Hollywood, a funny thing happened amid the laughter: It was Mose who had all the best lines offstage.Rocky would go through money, women, and wives in his restless search for love; Mose would settle down to a family life marked by fragile joy and wrenching tragedy. And soon, cracks were appearing in their complex relationship ... until one unforgivable act leads to another and a partnership begins to unravel.In a novel as daring as it is compassionate, Elizabeth McCracken introduces an indelibly drawn cast of characters—from Mose's Iowa family to the vagabond friends, lovers, and competitors who share his dizzying journey—as she deftly explores the fragile structures that underlie love affairs and friendships, partnerships and families.An elegiac and uniquely American novel, Niagara Falls All Over Again is storytelling at its finest—and powerful proof that Elizabeth McCracken is one of the most dynamic and wholly original voices of her generation.

The American Child , is many of the old books which have been considered important throughout the human history. They are now extremely scarce and very expensive antique. So that this work is never forgotten we republish these books in high quality, using the original text and artwork so that they can be preserved for the present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

One of the most acclaimed writers of our day, award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken is an undisputed virtuoso of the short story, and this new collection features her most vibrant and heartrending work to date. In these stories, the mysterious bonds of family are tested, transformed, fractured, and fortified.

WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE *; LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD *; NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NEWSDAYNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYThe Washington Post *; San Francisco Chronicle *; O: The Oprah Magazine *; The Miami Herald *; Publishers Weekly *; Kirkus ReviewsLook for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader's Circle for author chats and more.From the author of the beloved novel The Giant's House—finalist for the National Book Award—comes a beautiful new story collection, her first in twenty years. Laced through with the humor, the empathy, and the rare and magical descriptive powers that have led Elizabeth McCracken's fiction to be hailed as ';exquisite' (The New York Times Book Review), ';funny and heartbreaking' (The Boston Globe), and ';a true marvel' (San Francisco Chronicle), these nine vibrant stories navigate the fragile space between love and loneliness. In ';Property,' selected by Geraldine Brooks for The Best American Short Stories, a young scholar, grieving the sudden death of his wife, decides to refurbish the Maine rental house they were to share together by removing his landlord's possessions. In ';Peter Elroy: A Documentary by Ian Casey,' the household of a successful filmmaker is visited years later by his famous first subject, whose trust he betrayed. In ';The Lost & Found Department of Greater Boston,' the manager of a grocery store becomes fixated on the famous case of a missing local woman, and on the fate of the teenage son she left behind. And in the unforgettable title story, a family makes a quixotic decision to flee to Paris for a summer, only to find their lives altered in an unimaginable way by their teenage daughter's risky behavior.   In Elizabeth McCracken's universe, heartache is always interwoven with strange, charmed moments of joy—an unexpected conversation with small children, the gift of a parrot with a bad French accent—that remind us of the wonder and mystery of being alive. Thunderstruck & Other Stories shows this inimitable writer working at the full height of her powers.   Praise for Thunderstruck & Other Stories  ';Restorative, unforgettable . . . a powerful testament to the scratchy humor and warm intelligence of McCracken's writing.'—Sylvia Brownrigg, The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)';[A] bewitching and wise collection . . . playful, even joyful.'—O: The Oprah Magazine  ';Stunningly beautiful . . . brilliantly moving . . . Moments of joy and pure magic flicker and pitch-perfect humor acts as a furtive SOS signal through the fog of loss.'—Los Angeles Times';Each of Thunderstruck's nine stories is a storm: delightful and destructive, packed with electricity, fascinating to watch unfold.'—Salon   ';The stories here are brilliant, funny and heartbreaking. . . . Elizabeth McCracken is a national treasure.'—Paul Harding, The Wall Street Journal   ';Pure delight: one lyrical, impeccably constructed sentence after another.'—Chicago Tribune   ';Beautifully wrought . . . As painstaking as a watchmaker, McCracken disassembles life down to its smallest parts.'—The Boston Globe

From the day she is discovered unconscious in a New England cemetery at the beginning of the twentieth century - nothing but a bowling ball, a candlepin and fifteen pounds of gold on her person - Bertha Truitt is an enigma to everyone in Salford, Massachusetts.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

A story collection that navigates the fragile space between love and loneliness. It includes 'Property', wherein, a young scholar, grieving the sudden death of his wife, decides to refurbish the Maine rental house they were to share together by removing his landlord's possessions.

Set in a small town on Cape Cod in 1950, this tells of the relationship between Peggy Cort, a 28-year-old librarian, and James Carlson Sweatt, an "over-tall" 11-year-old. They are odd candidates for friendship, but they still find their lives entwined in ways that neither one could have predicted.