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.
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.
Critiques-
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November 15, 2017
National Book Award finalist Shriver offers her first volume of short fiction, with pieces concerning the impact of possessions, even one's home, on personal relationships. In "Vermin," for instance, two artists watch their passion flame out after they purchase a rundown house. With a 40,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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February 15, 2018
A dozen stories about homeownership, cohabitation, and other domestic perils, suffused to various degrees with Shriver's (The Mandibles, 2016, etc.) political concerns.The Standing Chandelier, the stellar novella that opens this collection, concerns Jillian, a bright but eccentric middle-aged artist who's longtime best friends with Weston--until he gets engaged to Paige, who resents Jillian's invasiveness (symbolized by the quirky wedding gift of the title) and demands he cut her off. The story recalls Shriver at her best (i.e., 2007's The Post-Birthday World): keenly alert to interior matters of jealousy, romance, and friendship and exterior matters of manners and decorum. The entire collection is unified by the question of how new arrangements, be they via marriage or a house, change or reveal our personalities, though none of the stories quite matches the opener. A few are irony-rich satires about contemporary living: In "Negative Equity," a married couple splits up but are loath to find new homes while their current one is underwater; in "Paradise to Perdition," an embezzler finds life on the lam at a tropical resort is duller than he'd hoped for. But in recent years, Shriver has become something of a scold in both her essays and fiction about what she sees as our overly sensitive, gumption-impaired society, and a handful of these stories are effectively chastising op-eds. "The ChapStick" is a critique of the Transportation Security Administration told via a man hastening to reach his dying father; in "Domestic Terrorism" (note the overheated title), a couple is at a loss about what to do about their layabout son, a vehicle for much grousing about shiftless millennials; and the closing novella, The Subletter, sourly and clunkily likens the lives of two women writers with the warring factions during Ireland's Troubles.Few writers are so committed to using fiction to explore the intimate impact of formal regulations and informal social engineering, but it remains a hit-and-miss project.COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from February 19, 2018
The wry and nimble novellas and stories in this collection by Shriver (We Need to Talk About Kevin) focus on how homes and objects shape the lives of those who own them. The collection, which concentrates on middle-class Brits and Americans, is bookended by two richly detailed and sardonic novellas. In the first, “The Standing Chandelier,” a freelance web designer’s relationship with his girlfriend is tested after his high-strung ex-girlfriend gives them a gift that dominates their house. In the concluding novella, “The Subletter,” an American journalist who has been making a meager living in Belfast for years is brought to the edge of
a breakdown when she has to share her apartment with an ambitious young subletter. In between, mordant tales touch down in the lives of a young American making herself at home in an African household (“Kilifi Creek”), a recent widow discovering that her late husband had done more than she thought to take care of a seemingly simple garden (“The Self-Seeding Sycamore”), and a slacker whose parents find him impossible to uproot from the household (“Domestic Terrorism”). Shriver’s stories will make readers laugh when they feel they shouldn’t, and the uniting theme of houses and humans works exceedingly well, turning up new wrinkles with each successive story. -
January 1, 2018
Shriver (The Mandibles) has a reputation for being arrogant and combative, traits she shares with a number of protagonists in this first collection, and she makes good use of those characters. The collection opens with Jillian, in "The Standing Chandelier," contemplating why she is so widely disliked and ends with judgmental Sara in "The Subletter." Sara's pettiness keeps her isolated, stuck, and, by novella's end, unemployed in Northern Ireland. The property in "Property" is real estate, and homes and housing play a major role in many of the pieces. In "The Self-Seeding Sycamore," neighbors fight over a tree spanning two back yards. "Domestic Terrorism" features an adult child who refuses to move out of his parents' basement; the married couple in "Negative Equity" breaks up during a housing crisis but can't afford to move out of the house; and an artistic couple in "Vermin" watch their marriage fall apart after buying their funky rental house in Brooklyn and starting to renovate. VERDICT Whether unlikable or likable yet behaving badly, Shriver's characters are complex and well drawn, and the pieces here are all engaging. Recommended for readers of short fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 10/16/17.]--Pamela Mann, St. Mary's Coll. Lib., MD
Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Associated Press
"Shriver... is a brilliant satirist and virtuosic writer....even if Property isn't your dream house, it's a diverting enough place to spend an afternoon or two." — Associated Press
"The collection, which concentrates on middle-class Brits and Americans, is bookended by two richly detailed and sardonic novellas.... Shriver's stories will make readers laugh when they feel they shouldn't, and the uniting theme of houses and humans works exceedingly well, turning up new wrinkles with each successive story." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Two novellas and ten stories by the author of We Need to Talk About Kevin skewer the absurdities of materialism, wherein possessions substitute for meaning and power is exerted by, say, being 30 years old and refusing to leave your parents' house." — O Magazine, 10 Titles to Pick Up Now
"A collection of two novellas and 10 short stories from the author of the explosive "We Need to Talk About Kevin." Set in Britain and the US, the stories explore the relationship between people, property and other "stuff."" — New York Post, This Week's Must-Read Books
"Award-winning Shriver's enthusiastic audience will delight in her clever and literary analyses of the spaces we occupy, and how they're all too often no broader than a knife's edge." — Booklist
