Disasters in the First World
Stories
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Olivia Clare is pure literary dynamite . . . [She] writes with Carveresque clarity and bite and an elegance all her own. A bravura debut.” —Janet Fitch, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of White Oleander
Olivia Clare’s delightfully strange and tender debut collection traces the impact of larger-than-life forces on everyday people. From siblings whose relationship is as fragile as glass, to a woman grappling with both an emotional and physical drought, to a superstitious spouse fearful of misfortune, Disasters in the First World explores the real and the imagined, environmental and man-made calamities, and the human need to comprehend the unknown.
“These insightful stories . . . flout convention and work in mysterious ways. Two in particular—‘Pétur’ and ‘The Visigoths’—will probably be anthologized and taught and cherished for years to come. They’re so well crafted . . . [they] flicker with moments of rare insight and nuance . . . makes me want to pick up whatever Clare publishes next.” —Andrew Ervin, The New York Times Book Review
“Lyrical and elegiac . . . Clare’s writing sparkles with unexpected word choice . . . Her stories unfold in wonderfully astonishing turns . . . Tender yet occasionally biting, Disasters in the First World ekes narrative poetry out of tragedy . . . Clare writes compassionately and unflinchingly about mental suffering.” —Shelf Awareness
“Olivia Clare’s debut collection will surprise you with its poetic weirdness, its dark confidence. The ‘disasters’ in these stories are tragically indefinite, fissures in the lives of the characters, whom Clare brings to life with humor, wisdom, and brutal honesty.” —Vu Tran, author of Dragonfish
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Its provocative title notwithstanding, Clare's debut collection features 13 sensitive stories whose dramas are more intimate and incisive than earthshaking. In "Olivia," a houseguest drives his hosts from initial confusion to anger with his daily accounts of a nonexistent cat whom he claims visits him regularly in his room. "P tur" tells of a middle-aged mother, trapped with her son in Iceland following a volcanic eruption, who finds fulfillment in a lover whom she imagines into being in the uninhabited house next door. In "Pittsburgh in Copenhagen," a pair of lovers unfaithful to their spouses find the uncertainties in their relationship magnified by a mysterious delivery of flowers to the woman's apartment. Most of Clare's stories feature characters who try with only marginal success to communicate their feelings to one another. "Things That Aren't the World" is presented as a series of letters and messages through which a son and mother argue over the welfare of a younger sibling who is content living in her delusory world. "Two Cats, the Chickens, and Trees" ends devastatingly with a woman thinking of the mother-in-law whom she increasingly comes to love, "You must never admire her without wishing to be unlike her. You must hate when someone else loves her." Clare's characters are believable in their frailty and vulnerability, and the clarity and strength of her voice gives these stories a lingering power.
