Property: Stories Between Two Novellas
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
A striking new collection of ten short stories and two novellas that explores the idea of property in every meaning of the word, from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award finalist So Much for That and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin.
Intermingling settings in America and Britain, Lionel Shriver’s first collection explores property in both senses of the word: real estate and stuff. These pieces illustrate how our possessions act as proxies for ourselves, and how tussles over ownership articulate the power dynamics of our relationships. In Lionel Shriver’s world, we may possess people and objects and places, but in turn they possess us.
In the stunning novella "The Standing Chandelier," a woman with a history of attracting other women’s antagonism creates a deeply personal wedding present for her best friend and his fiancée—only to discover that the jealous fiancée wants to cut her out of their lives. In "Domestic Terrorism," a thirty-something son refuses to leave home, resulting in a standoff that renders him a millennial cause célèbre. In "The ChapStick," a middle-aged man subjugated by service to his elderly father discovers that the last place you should finally assert yourself is airport security. In "Vermin," an artistic Brooklyn couple’s purchase of a ramshackle house destroys their once-passionate relationship. In "The Subletter," two women, both foreign conflict junkies, fight over a claim to a territory that doesn’t belong to either.
Exhibiting a satisfying thematic unity unusual for a collection, this masterful work showcases the biting insight that has made Shriver one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.
Editor's Note
Property taxes & tolls…
Do you own stuff, or does stuff own you? Lionel Shriver (“We Need to Talk About Kevin”) reveals just how much leverage property has over our well-being in this themed short story collection. A cutting look at our troubled relationship with capitalism.
Lionel Shriver
Although Lionel Shriver has published many novels, a collection of essays, and a column in the Spectator since 2017, and her journalism has been featured in publications including the Guardian, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, she in no way wishes for the inclusion of this information to imply that she is more “intelligent” or “accomplished” than anyone else. The outdated meritocracy of intellectual achievement has made her a bestselling author multiple times and accorded her awards, including the Orange Prize, but she accepts that all of these accidental accolades are basically meaningless. She lives in Portugal and Brooklyn, New York.
Read more from Lionel Shriver
The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Motion of the Body Through Space Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Brother: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Post-Birthday World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Decent Criminals: A Novel Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A Perfectly Good Family: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Book Club Bible: The Definitive Guide That Every Book Club Member Needs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Game Control: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Library Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Republic: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to Property
Related ebooks
The Book of Dahlia: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Turbulence: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Misspent Youth: Essays Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Goodbye, Vitamin: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Will Never Be Forgotten: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clever Girl: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who I was Supposed To Be: Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Financial Lives of the Poets: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Behavior of Love: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Did You Ever Have a Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sidewalks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evening in Paradise: More Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Can't and Won't: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Innocents and Others: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Panorama City: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The End of the Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marlena: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Should a Person Be?: A Novel from Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Some Fun: Stories and a Novella Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Past: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mislaid: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eat the Document: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surrender, Dorothy: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5"Cat Person" and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golden State: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry: Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Accomplished Guest: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Starting from Happy: A Novel Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5
Literary Fiction For You
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East of Eden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Little Birds: Erotica Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Handmaid's Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Demon Copperhead: A Pulitzer Prize Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Prejudice: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Queen's Gambit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anna Karenina: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Woman in the Room: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tender Is the Flesh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Property
10 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I just discovered Lionel Shriver a year ago and this is my 4th book by her and the first that is short stories and novellas. She is a great writer. Her prose is intricate and full of great metaphors etc. In fact her descriptions are so good and consistent that you sometimes wish for more simplicity. She reaches to very subtle depths and is consistently in the head of her characters. The stories surround how property and all of its implications impact us. In most cases her stories involve the main character and some adversary. Her characters are constantly analyzing, plotting, thinking, overthinking and just being complex humans. Shriver who is a libertarian is not bashful with her opinions about being PC correct, entitled young people, and stingy parents etc. Her books are long but well worth it. I do plan to eventually read all of her books. She has climbed into my list of favorite authors. A must read
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5After the excellent opening "The Standing Chandelier", I began to find these a little hit and miss ("Domestic Terrorism" being a particularly big miss). I gave up at page 132.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5lionel shriver made it great! she is a first class writer
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I like Lionel Shrivers writing a lot. Especially because she is typically making a point with everything she writes. In this collection of stories, the points are diverse and strong. Also typically, I do not agree with her libertarian point, but I find it refreshing to read the argument in a literary way. Libertarians making their point in a straight-forward argumentative article typically bore me. Of course, making a political point in fiction is a bit of a cheap trick, because you can make your characters behave stupid or illogical as you wish. But if the psychology of the story is good and the message not too thickly spread on top, it can be really powerful.Most of these stories really made me think, some of them actually changed my opinion, be it a little bit.