A Primitive Heart
Stories
David Rabe
- Tales
- from
- the
- Tony
- Award–winning
- playwright:
- “Not
- only
- an
- exhibition
- of
- David
- Rabe’s
- acclaimed
- dramatic
- powers
- but
- also
- proof
- of
- his
- narrative
- magic”
- (Billy
- Collins,
- former
- US
- Poet
- Laureate).David
- Rabe,
- playwright
- of
- Hurlyburly
- and
- In
- the
- Boom
- Boom
- Room,
- brings
- his
- intense
- vision
- to
- the
- world
- of
- fiction
- with
- a
- short
- story
- collection
- of
- astonishing
- range
- and
- versatility.
- Whether
- he
- is
- writing
- about
- a
- marriage
- shadowed
- by
- the
- unacknowledged
- discord
- of
- a
- risky
- pregnancy,
- a
- group
- of
- men
- whose
- attempt
- to
- settle
- an
- account
- launches
- them
- toward
- unexpected
- violence,
- or
- a
- young
- journalist
- who
- believes
- he’s
- escaped
- his
- Catholic
- roots
- only
- to
- be
- forced
- again
- to
- confront
- them
- by
- a
- priest
- who
- once
- mentored
- his
- writing,
- Rabe’s
- strong,
- true
- voice
- tenders
- an
- inimitable
- portrait
- of
- America
- and
- offers
- benediction
- to
- her
- lost
- souls.
- A
- Primitive
- Heart
- confirms
- the
- mastery
- of
- a
- writer
- and
- establishes
- David
- Rabe
- as
- an
- exciting
- voice
- in
- fiction.“Rabe
- has
- a
- way
- of
- implicating
- the
- reader—of
- creating
- a
- near-claustrophobic
- bond
- with
- his
- restless
- characters,
- writing
- so
- convincingly
- that
- the
- subtext
- becomes
- almost
- palpable,
- accruing
- darkly,
- like
- a
- storm.
- Okay:
- I’m
- eating
- my
- heart
- out.”
- —Ann
- Beattie,
- PEN/Malamud
- Award–winner“These
- are
- gripping
- stories,
- hard
- to
- put
- aside,
- that
- cut
- so
- close
- to
- primitive
- emotional
- truths
- that
- they
- can
- be
- painful
- to
- read
- .
- .
- .
- That
- vivid
- confusion—the
- desire
- to
- understand
- something
- more
- primitive
- than
- thought—makes
- these
- stories
- unforgettable.”
- —The
- Seattle
- Times“David
- Rabe
- demonstrates
- in
- this
- new
- collection
- of
- short
- stories
- that
- his
- talent
- for
- dialogue
- is
- just
- as
- dazzling
- inside
- a
- prose
- narrative
- as
- it
- is
- on
- stage.”
- —The
- Baltimore Sun
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