Life and Other Shortcomings: Stories

(Paperback)

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Description

Life and Other Shortcomings is a collection of linked short stories that takes the reader from New Orleans to New York City to Madrid, and from 1970 to the present day. The women in these twelve stories make a number of different choices: some work, others don't; some stay married, some get divorced; others never marry at all. Through each character's intimate journey, specific truths are revealed about what it means to be a woman-in relationship with another person, in a particular culture and era-and how these conditions ultimately affect her relationship with herself. The stories as a whole depict patriarchy, showing what still might be, but certainly what was, for some women in this country before the #MeToo movement. Both a cautionary tale and a captivating window into women's lives, Life and Other Shortcomings is required reading for anyone interested in an honest, incisive, and compelling portrayal of the female experience.

Reviews

2021 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award: Finalist in Cover Design: Small Format, Fiction
2020 American Fiction Awards: Winner in Short Story
2020 Best Book Awards Finalist
Included in 2020's Best Beach Reads by Parade

Featuring 12 stories about women in various cities and eras, each share a connection to one another. And you're along for the journey as they reveal certain truths about the female experience. It's an anthem, and also a cry for a change.

Parade, 20 Classic and New Books About Feminism

A compelling collection that captures the mystery and menace beneath love and family life.
Kirkus Reviews

I'm in love with this book. It is just so good. It's real and definitely something that makes you feel like you've been heard and you have a friend.

Ann Garvin, Founder of Tall Poppy Writers and USA Today best-selling author ofI Thought You Said This Would Work,I Like You Just Fine When You're Not Around,The Dog Year, andOn Maggie's Watch

Corie Adjmi has a flair for dramatizing scenes. She homes in on the killer moment, and her dialogue is so honest that I was cringing at times . . . It is just so vivid.

Susan Breen, author of The Fiction Class

Corie Adjmis stories are sharply written, unsparing, and spot-on. With wisdom and humanity, Life and Other Shortcomings plumbs the mysteries of adult life: the menacing underside of love, the protean nature of grief, and the baffling difficulty of staying true to ourselves and the things we value most. Assured in her storytelling, Adjmi writes with force and perception. Her stories are a must-read.
Elyssa Friedland, author of The Floating Feldmans and The Intermission and Love and Miss Communication

Pitch perfect and very haunting, Life and Other Shortcomings is a true delight. Adjmis interlocking stories are as funny as they are tragic. Her characters are so real and relatable, youll find yourself rooting for them, even as they get into trouble. Adjmi is a great new talent.
Alison Espach, author of The Adults

All that glitters is not gold in Corie Adjmis wonderful short story collection Life and Other Shortcomings. Adjmi exposes the fear, envy, and yearning that simmer just beneath the surface of her characters beautiful lives. Her writing is both elegant and powerful. I was hooked from the first page to the last.
Ellen Sussman, New York Times best-selling author of four novels, A Wedding in Provence, The Paradise Guest House, French Lessons and On a Night Like This

Among the women of these stories are dutiful housewives, devoutly religious women, insecure teenagers, and many other colorful characters. Pop culture references peppered throughout-including nostalgic callbacks to Dr.Scholl's sandals, Swanson's Frozen Dinners, Star Trek, and The Brady Bunchonly add to the realism and heart of the book. These stories are full of drama, humor, descriptive language, and insight, and they make for a very enjoyable read. Adjmi subtly, but so perceptively, unfolds the characters' private fears, hopes, and dreams, zeroing in on how a single experience or event can change a life.

Jewish Book Council

Twelve accounts bear witness to the female experience, and how the choices we make look differently depending on when and where we live. As a whole, the collection illustrates the influence of patriarchy, especially so before the #MeToo movement.

Travel +Leisure

For fans of Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, Amazon's Modern Love, and HBO's Mrs. Fletcher,Life and Other Shortcomingsis both a cautionary tale and a captivating window into women's lives. An honest, incisive, and compelling portrayal of the female experience.

Beyond the Bookends

We're all familiar with the happy parts of relationships, we've been raised on them, butLife and Other Shortcomingsgets into the nitty-gritty of what comes over time.

Paperback Paris

CorieAdjmi'sLife and Other Shortcomingsis a slice of life literary work full of lessons that need to be shared today. Juxtaposing the present with the past, the book reveals a web of interconnected stories meant to relate to women's everyday lives. These stories are so honest and relatable, it hurts.

Readers' Favorite

CorieAdjmi's linked short stories tell of the heartaches and difficulties of growing up--physically and spiritually--as a woman in a patriarchal society. Wonderful writing!

Francoise Brodsky, Director Shakespeare & Co

When you're tired of binge-watching Netflix, this collection is an honest cautionary tale about the female experience.

Brit + Co

Twelve stories highlight very different women and their journeys.Take a peek into these women's lives and into their relationships.

Frolic Media

Take a break from reality and relax with a great new book.

BuzzFeed

Honest portrayal of women in a patriarchal world.

Bookstr

Poignant,laugh-out-loud funny, and unnerving all at once,Life and Other Shortcomingsis the one you've been waiting for. This collection is replete with emotionally charged, compassionate, true tolife characters. Stories come together to create layer over layer of veiled emotional and psychological complexity.

Nicole Dweck, author ofThe Debt of Tamar

Author Bio

Corie Adjmi grew up in New Orleans. She started writing in her late thirties, and her award-winning fiction and personal essays have since appeared in over two dozen publications, including North American Review, Indiana Review, South Dakota Review, and, more recently, HuffPost and Man Repeller. In 2019, Life and Other Shortcomings was a finalist for the G. S. Sharat Chandra Prize for short fiction from BkMk Press. When she is not writing, Corie does volunteer work, cooks, draws, bikes, and hikes. She and her husband have five children and a number of grandchildren, with more on the way. She lives and works in New York City.