“Orner writes words that don't disappear . . . At the same time, these stories never seem confined to the pages on which they appear. Though set in different eras, going back to the '60s, as well as in different time zones, they float over and under each other, their recurring characters cutting across time and space . . . Maggie Brown & Others is so full of brilliant, reverberant lines--and cuttingly funny ones as well--that they are like critics' popcorn: You can't stop citing them . . . Writing doesn't get any better."
―Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Tribune
Maggie Brown & Others
In this powerful and virtuosic collection of interlocking stories, each one “a marvel of concision and compassion” (Washington Post), a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist and “master of his form” (New York Times) takes the short story to new heights.
Through forty-four compressed gems, Peter Orner, a writer who “doesn’t simply bring his characters to life, he gives them souls” (NYT Book Review), chronicles people whose lives are at inflection points, gripping us with a series of defining moments.
Whether it’s a first date that turns into a late-night road trip to a séance in an abandoned airplane hangar, or a family’s memories of the painful mystery surrounding a neglected uncle’s demise, Orner reveals how our fleeting decisions between kindness and abandonment chase us across time. These stories are anchored by a poignant novella that delivers not only the joys and travails of a forty-year marriage, but an entire era in a working-class New England city. Bristling with the crackling energy of life itself, Maggie Brown & Others marks the most sustained achievement to date for “a master of his form” (New York Times).
A New York Times Notable Book
A Chicago Tribune Notable Book
An Oprah Magazine Best Book of 2019
Kirkus Reviews Best Short Fiction of 2019
Longlisted for the Simpson/Joyce Carol Oates Prize