All's Fair and Other California Stories
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
All's Fair and Other California Stories
By (Author) Linda Feyder
She Writes Press
She Writes Press
11th November 2021
United States
Classifications
General
Fiction
813.6
Physical Properties
Paperback
160
Width 139mm, Height 215mm
Description
In present-day Southern California, a diverse group of characters seeks the fulfillment and connection this sunny state has always promised. They come with hopes for a better lifestyle, for a change of perspective, or for the dry, mild West Coast weather. A couple moves to Palm Desert from New York for the arid, warm climate a doctor prescribes and they manage both illness and homesickness. The woman makes an unlikely friend in a young albino boy who teaches her a harsh lesson about the margin for cruelty that resides in us all. A young Mexican woman migrates to California and marries an American manonly to be deserted. A young man is disqualified from the Naval Aeronautical program and returns to his sisters home, where he struggles with his identity and sexuality. After years of estrangement, a teenage girl travels to California from New York to spend the summer with her father. Between each of the thirteen stories in this collection are interspersed several snapshot storiespoetic pausesthat blend a set of images into an artistic visual unit, much like a brief cinematic experience. Every character in this collection is distinct from the next, but all of their stories unfold under the glare of the same Southern California suna western desert light so clear and unfiltered that it reveals everything.
Reviews
2022 Global Book Awards Finalist in Short Stories
2022 Firebird Book Awards First Place Winner in New Adult Fiction
2022 Firebird Book Awards Second Place Winner in New Fiction (first time published)
2022 International Book Awards Winner in Fiction: Short Story
2022 IPPY Awards Silver Winner in West-Pacific (Best Regional Fiction)
2021 American Fiction Awards Winner in Best Cover Design: Adult Fiction
2021 American Fiction Awards Finalist in Short Story Fiction
A beautifully rendered collection from a writer to watch.
Kirkus Reviews
As its subtitle suggests, these are all California stories, but Linda Feyders debut collection covers a great deal of ground. She has a first-rate ear, a noticing eye, and a wide-ranging sympathy; this is a book to savor and a very welcome new voice.
Nicholas Delbanco, author of It is Enough and Why Writing Matters
Linda Feyder is a remarkably attentive and subtle storyteller whose understanding of her characters allows her to honor their complexity in a few deft and graceful strokes. Like all good writersAlice Munro comes to mindher sociological insights are embedded rather than spelled out, and that makes her wide view very satisfying.
Rosellen Brown, author of Before and After and Half a Heart
Author Bio
Linda Feyder is a practicing psychotherapist in New York. She received her MA in creative writing and literature from the University of Houston and has been writing fiction for many years. Her stories have appeared in literary journals and magazines. Her interest in California, her native state, and the people it attracts are the subjects of her debut collection of short stories. She lives in Long Island, New York, with her husband and enjoys traveling, visiting art museums, listening to other peoples stories, and trying to learn French. Visit her online at www.lindafeyder.com.
