Things to Come and Go

Bette Howland

Paperback

Regular price$16.95With free membership trial$8.4850% off your first book+ Free shipping

In Stock– Ships within one business day

Do you recommend this book?

Yes!

From the acclaimed author of Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage and the memoir W-3, a trio of novellas about three women's bold exploration of the desire for belonging as it comes into conflict with the fulfillment of our individual selves. With an introduction by Rumaan Alam.

Over the past several years, A Public Space has brought the work of Bette Howland back into print. First published in 1983, Things to Come and Go is her final book, and a showcase of her stunning talent--the razor-sharp observations, the elusive narrators, the language at once experimental and classical.

Nearly forty years later, it's writing that "feel[s] revelatory and imperative to the work we might all be trying to make next" (Lynn Steger Strong).

Book Details

Publisher: Public Space Books
Publish Date: Jun 28th, 2022
Pages: 152
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 7.80in - 5.12in - 0.71in - 0.40lb
EAN: 9780998267562
Categories: • Short Stories (single author)• Women• Family Life - General

About the Author

Bette Howland (1937-2017) was born in Chicago. She published three books in her lifetime: W-3, and the story collections Blue in Chicago and Things to Come and Go. She received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1984, after which she did not publish another book. A posthumous collection of her stories, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, is also available from A Public Space Books.

Rumaan Alam is the author of Rich and Pretty, That Kind of Mother, and Leave the World Behind. He lives in New York City.

Praise for this book

Another unburied treasure, with Howland's glimmering talent again on full display. Each story showcases the author's intelligence, insightfulness, and incomparable eye for illuminating detail and ear for captivating dialogue...This rediscovered collection feels as clear and colorful as if it had been written today.
--Kirkus starred review

Exuberantly voice-y short stories.
--Marion Winik, Washington Post

A writer of unusual talent, power and intelligence.... Stunning power and beauty abound in this book.
--Johanna Kaplan, New York Times

There is being seen, and then there is seeing. There is no seeing like Bette Howland's. On every page, catching the narrator's every glance, are observations rich in detail and delight--honest, acerbic, alert, and always dazzling in their inventiveness and wry, hard-edged wisdom.
--Amitava Kumar

Style is a great preservative in literature and the quality that Bette Howland's... writing possess[es] in abundance, and the reason [her] work has proved worth preserving.
--Joseph Epstein, Commentary