Show Don't Tell: Stories

Curtis Sittenfeld

Hardcover

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The New York Times bestselling author of Eligible and Romantic Comedy "blends acerbic wit, shrewd insight and sharp-eyed observation [in this] bravura collection" (The Washington Post), including a story that revisits the main character from her iconic novel Prep

"Each of these witty, intelligent stories is a slice of modern life."--People

In her second story collection, Sittenfeld shows why she's as beloved for her short fiction as she is for her novels. In these dazzling stories, she conjures up characters so real that they seem like old friends, laying bare the moments when their long held beliefs are overturned.

In "The Patron Saints of Middle Age," a woman visits two friends she hasn't seen since her divorce. In "A for Alone," a married artist embarks on a creative project intended to disprove the so-called Mike Pence Rule, which suggests that women and men can't spend time alone together without lusting after each other. And in "Lost but Not Forgotten," Sittenfeld gives readers of her novel Prep a window into the world of her beloved character Lee Fiora, decades later, when Lee attends an alumni reunion at her boarding school.

Hilarious, thought-provoking, and full of tenderness for her characters, Sittenfeld's stories peel back layer after layer of our inner lives, keeping us riveted to the page with her utterly distinctive voice.

Book Details

Publisher: Random House
Publish Date: Feb 25th, 2025
Pages: 320
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 9.40in - 6.00in - 1.20in - 1.01lb
EAN: 9780593446737
Categories: • Short Stories (single author)• Literary• Women

About the Author

Curtis Sittenfeld's New York Times bestselling books have been translated into thirty languages and twice selected as Reese's Book Club picks. They include the novels Prep, American Wife, Eligible, Rodham, and Romantic Comedy, and the story collection You Think It, I'll Say It. Sittenfeld's stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Best American Short Stories, of which she was the 2020 guest editor. She lives with her family in Minneapolis.

Praise for this book

Advance praise for Show Don't Tell

"Witty . . . In one sparkling comedy of manners after another, [Curtis Sittenfeld] documents with a clear and affectionate eye how tiny prejudices and blind spots lead her protagonists astray. These stories entertain and unsettle in equal measure."--Publishers Weekly

"[Sittenfeld's] perfectly contained stories are a joy for their realistically and mundanely fractured characters, moral ambiguities, movingly related moments, and the message that even the smallest tale offers lessons to uncover."--Booklist, starred review

"Sittenfeld's candor and matter-of-factness make for compellingly intimate and at times wildly funny reading. . . . Astute, keen-eyed musings on lives well lived--and otherwise."--Kirkus Reviews

Praise for You Think It, I'll Say It, Sittenfeld's previous story collection

"Psychologically acute, deftly crafted and deeply pleasurable."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Perfectly paced, witty and laced with unexpected twists: Every story here sticks its landing. Whatever [Sittenfeld] writes, we'll read it."--People

"Razor-sharp, often hilarious . . . [Sittenfeld] is a sharp observer of human nature and human relationships. . . . A witty, breezy, zeitgeist-y collection."--USA Today

"In her first collection of stories . . . [Sittenfeld] writes with her trademark wit."--Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"The characters in Curtis Sittenfeld's collection of stories [are] honest, fun, and irreverent. . . . Sittenfeld's gems make you realize how small the world is, and how much we all have in common."--Glamour

"Empathetic imagination is one of the defining features of Sittenfeld's fiction."--NPR

"Every bit as smart, sensitive, funny, and genuine as her phenomenally popular novels."--Booklist, starred review