Kate’s 2¢: “Maggie Brown & others” by Peter Orner

“Maggie Brown & others” by Peter Orner

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

The short story that snapped up my attention, out of so many short stories that began to blur together,  was the time he was a stringer for the Chicago Sun Times and used his press pass to report on former President Reagan’s visit to Deerfield High School.  I attended Deerfield High School the first two years it was open, albeit, years before this anecdote.

The anthology of short stories, eventually,  lead up to Walter getting a reprieve from his botched suicide attempt. Then, they coalesce into the story of Walter’s life prior to his fatal massive heart attack…at least, I think that is what happens.

from NLS/BARD/LOC:

Orner was born in Chicago.[3] He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1990. He later earned a law degree from Northeastern University, and an MFA from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.

Career[edit]

In 2001 Orner published his first book, Esther Stories,.[3] It won a prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Goldberg Prize for Jewish Fiction, and was a finalist for the Pen Hemingway Prize, the Young Lion’s Award from the New York Public Library, and was named a Notable Book of the Year by ‘The New York Times. Of Esther Stories, The New York Times wrote, “Orner doesn’t just bring his characters to life, he gives them souls.”[4]

In 2006, Orner published his first novel, The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo, which was set in Namibia, where Orner worked as an English teacher in the 1990s; it won the Bard Fiction Prize and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Orner was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2006, as well as the two-year Lannan Foundation Literary Fellowship in 2007 and 2008.

Orner served as editor of two non-fiction books, Underground America (2008) and Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives (2010), both published by McSweeney’s / Voice of Witness. His 2011 novel, Love and Shame and Love received positive reviews[3] and was a New York Times Editor’s Choice Book, and California Book Award winner.

In 2013, Little Brown released two books: a new edition of Esther Stories (with an introduction by Marilynne Robinson) and a new collection of stories, Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge.

Orner’s stories and essays have appeared in The Atlantic monthly, The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Paris Review, Granta, McSweeney’s, The Believer, and the Southern Review. His work has been anthologized in Best American Stories, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and twice won a Pushcart Prize.

Orner is a Professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. He has taught at San Francisco State University, The University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, The Warren Wilson MFA Program, The University of Montana, Washington University, Miami University, Bard College, and Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Maggie Brown & others DB97376

Orner, Peter. Reading time: 8 hours, 42 minutes.

Read by Gregory Maupin.

Short Stories

Interlocking short stories that cover a series of defining moments, revealing how fleeting decisions chase individuals across time. The collection is anchored by a novella about a forty-year marriage. Strong language and descriptions of sex. 2019.

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