Listening for Ghosts
A Novella and Four Stories
David Rabe
- In
- these
- disquieting
- tales
- of
- confronting
- the
- past,
- the
- author
- and
- playwright
- showcases
- his
- “keen
- ear
- for
- how
- people
- talk,
- think,
- and
- behave”
- (Publishers
- Weekly).Listening
- for
- Ghosts
- collects
- some
- of
- David
- Rabe’s
- most
- compelling
- short
- fiction
- of
- the
- past
- few
- years,
- including
- three
- stories
- that
- appeared
- in
- the
- New
- Yorker.
- In
- “Things
- We
- Worried
- About
- When
- I
- Was
- Ten,”
- a
- group
- of
- seemingly
- carefree
- Midwestern
- boys
- are
- revealed
- to
- be
- egregiously
- uncared
- for
- by
- their
- parents.
- “The
- Longer
- Grief”
- is
- a
- slow-motion
- explosion,
- as
- one
- moment
- in
- time
- propels
- shards
- of
- reckoning
- through
- the
- shared
- history
- of
- a
- brother
- and
- sister.
- In
- “Uncle
- Jim
- Called,”
- a
- man
- cooking
- stir
- fry
- answers
- a
- phone
- call
- from
- the
- dead
- .
- “Suffocation
- Theory”
- slyly
- depicts
- our
- off-kilter
- and
- increasingly
- apocalyptic
- world.In
- the
- novella,
- I
- Have
- to
- Tell
- You,
- the
- elderly
- tenants
- of
- a
- Midwestern
- apartment
- complex
- seek
- fairness
- from
- a
- conniving
- landlord.
- When
- an
- emergency
- stay
- in
- the
- hospital
- brings
- a
- near-octogenarian
- named
- Emma
- face-to-face
- with
- looming
- injustice,
- she
- finds
- herself
- burdened
- with
- two
- mysteries
- to
- solve.
- She
- may
- never
- get
- to
- the
- bottom
- of
- them,
- but
- she
- is
- determined
- to
- do
- all
- she
- can.Also
- included
- are
- “Things
- We
- Worried
- About
- When
- I
- Was
- Ten,”
- which
- won
- the
- 2021
- O.
- Henry
- Prize,
- and
- “The
- Longer
- Grief,”
- which
- won
- first
- prize
- in
- the
- 2019
- Narrative
- Story Contest.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
