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"Robison uses a minimalist discipline and barely ruffled surfaces, but her hidden pictures of childhood and other states of vulnerability are boundless in their emotion." — The Los Angeles Times Book Review The eleven stories in Believe Them , most of which first appeared in The New Yorker , depict Mary Robison's sly, scatty world of plotters, absconders, ponderers, and pontificators. Robison's take on her characters is sharp, cool, astringently ironic, and her language vibrates with edginess and nerve. With what John Barth has called her «enigmatic superrealism,» Robison flashes entire lives by us in small, stunning moments—odd, skewed outtakes from real life. Believe Them confirms Mary Robison's place as one of America's most original writers.

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The seventh Counterpoint Robison reissue, after Tell Me , Oh! , An Amateur’s Guide to the Night , Why Did I Ever , One D.O.A., One On The Way , and Subtraction Robison, a beloved writer and essential voice on the Counterpoint list, is one of the writers Counterpoint is celebrating by reissuing importance books from the backlist Major national media outlets have already expressed enthusiasm over the Robison reissues, and strong positive coverage is expected Display and newsletter co-ops available and encouraged

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"Robison's minimalism is more like a slap in the face: it's short, it stings, and you wonder who in tarnation did that to you." — The New York Times Enter Eve. Based in New Orleans, she's a location scout for a movie production company and complacently married to Adam. «Now you know,» she says. «Our names really didn't bother me that much until the mail started arriving addressed to 'Adam and Eve Broussard.'» He's just been diagnosed with a grave illness and gone back to the palatial family home where his parents reside. It's all just fine with Eve—or so she tells herself at the beginning. But standing left of center in this still-prosperous but mortally wounded family does not get easier as the weeks wear on. As she negotiates her way around the anger of Adam's despised twin brother Saunders, maintains her friendship with his beautiful and volatile wife Petal, and protects what's left of the innocence of her niece Collie, Eve finds more than the Louisiana heat oppressive.

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“Subtraction stands out as a high-wire act of the novel form—taut in expression yet rich with humanity, expertly crafted and unfairly neglected.” — The Millions “Robison delivers a sparkling valentine about a Harvard poetess and her great love for a drunken Dean Moriarty type, at his best when he’s on the road . . . A funny, beautifully written novel, dry and bubbly as good champagne.” — Kirkus Reviews Paige Deveaux, poet and Harvard professor, is tracking her husband Raf, who has vanished once again. Paige trails him to Houston, where he is holed up in a seedy bar, drunk and cheerfully ashamed of himself. He’s very glad to see her: she’s the only girl for him (and he should know—he’s tried most of the others). Finding Raf is one thing, but holding on to him is another. To sober him up, to keep him sober, to keep him, Paige enlists Raf’s old friend Raymond (himself an ex-alcoholic) and Raf’s new friend Pru, a holistically inclined contortioniststripper. For a while life, and Raf, seem to settle down. But this foursome is nothing but trouble for one another. Pru is a hit-and-run artist, a sexual desperado who has already broken Raymond’s heart, and now Raymond is growing sweet on Paige. As Raf says, “Assorted wretchednesses ensue.”

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"Tense, moving, and hilarious . . . [A] dark jewel of a novel." —Francine Prose, O, The Oprah Magazine Three husbands have left her. I.R.S. agents are whamming on her door. And her beloved cat has gone missing. She's back and forth between Melanie, her secluded Southern town, and L.A., where she has a weakening grasp on her job as a script doctor. Having been sacked by most of the studios and convinced that her dealings with Hollywood have fractured her personality, Money Breton talks to herself nonstop. She glues and hammers and paints every item in her place. She forges loving inscriptions in all her books. Through it all, there is her darling puzzling daughter who lives close by but seems ever beyond reach, and her son, the damaged victim of a violent crime under police protection in New York. While both her children seem to be losing all their battles, Money tries for ways and reasons to keep battling. Why Did I Ever is a book of piercing intellect and belligerent humor. Since its first publication in 2002 it has had a profound impact, not only on Robison’s devoted following, but on the shape of the contemporary novel itself.

Аннотация

The fourth Counterpoint Robison reissue, after Tell Me in Spring 2018, released in tandem with An Amateur’s Guide to the Night Robison, a beloved writer and essential voice on the Counterpoint list, is one of the writers Counterpoint is celebrating by reissuing importance books from the backlist Major national media outlets have already expressed enthusiasm over the Robison reissues, and strong positive coverage is expected Display and newsletter co-ops available and encouraged

Аннотация

"Mary Robison's short stories are short, subtle, and substantial . . . Her ironic sense of detail bursts from every sentence." – Vogue An Amateur's Guide to the Night stands as a perfect example of Mary Robison's beloved narrative style: purposeful, clipped, and devastating in its restraint. Reflecting on the life of disaffected youth, these stories speculate on how they often manage to remain deferent towards the rest of society—and document how spectacularly they often fail. "These thirteen stories are glimpses from a moving train into lit parlors, dinettes, bedrooms and dens . . . Think of Robison as the engineer, blowing the whistle, calling the stops and starts; invisible when you want to ask her why we're stalled here in the middle of nowhere, between stations, jobs, relationships and decisions." — Los Angeles Times

Аннотация

The second Counterpoint Robison reissue, after Why Did I Ever in Winter 2018 Robison, a beloved writer and essential voice on the Counterpoint list, is one of the writers Counterpoint is celebrating by reissuing importance books from the backlist Major national media outlets have already expressed enthusiasm over the Robison reissues, and strong positive coverage is expected Display and newsletter co-ops available and encouraged

Аннотация