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Book Cover for: Trajectory: Stories, Richard Russo

Trajectory: Stories

Richard Russo

Reader Score

76%

76% of readers

recommend this book

Critic Reviews

Great

Based on 8 reviews on

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This dazzling collection of four stories features characters bound together by their parallel moments of reckoning with their pasts--and proves the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls is also a master of the short story.

"Beautiful.... Will abruptly break your heart." --The New York Times

The characters in these four expansive stories are a departure from the blue-collar denizens that populate so many of Richard Russo's novels. In "Horseman," a young professor confronts an undergraduate plagiarist--as well as her own regrets. In "Intervention," a realtor facing a serious medical prognosis finds himself in his late father's shadow. "Voice" gives us a semiretired academic who is conned by his estranged brother into joining a group tour of the Venice Biennale. And "Milton and Marcus" takes us into a lapsed novelist's attempt to rekindle his screenwriting career--a career that depends wholly, at a crucial moment, on two Hollywood icons (one living, one dead).

Look for Richard Russo's new book, Somebody's Fool, coming soon.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Vintage
  • Publish Date: Apr 3rd, 2018
  • Pages: 256
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.90in - 5.10in - 0.80in - 0.60lb
  • EAN: 9781101971987
  • Categories: LiteraryShort Stories (single author)Family Life - General

About the Author

RICHARD RUSSO is the author of nine novels, most recently Chances Are..., Everybody's Fool and That Old Cape Magic; two collections of stories; and the memoir Elsewhere. In 2002 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls, which, like Nobody's Fool, was adapted into a multiple-award-winning miniseries; in 2017, he received France's Grand Prix de Littérature Américaine. He lives in Port­land, Maine.

More books by Richard Russo

Book Cover for: Life and Art: Essays, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: Somebody's Fool, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: Empire Falls, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: Nobody's Fool, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: Straight Man, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: Everybody's Fool, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: Chances Are . . ., Richard Russo
Book Cover for: Elsewhere: A Memoir, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: The Whore's Child: Stories, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: The Destiny Thief: Essays on Writing, Writers and Life, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: The Best American Short Stories, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: The Risk Pool, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: That Old Cape Magic, Richard Russo
Book Cover for: It Occurs to Me That I Am America: New Stories and Art, Richard Russo

Critics’ reviews

Praise for this book

"Beautiful. . . . Will abruptly break your heart. That's what Richard Russo does, without pretension or fuss, time and time again." --The New York Times

"[A] collection of short fiction so rich and flavorsome that the temptation is to devour it all at once. I can't in good conscience advise otherwise." --Laura Collins-Hughes, The Boston Globe

"Has the engaging quality of tales told by a friend, over drinks, about a person we know in common. And so we lean forward, eager to hear what happened next." --The New York Times Book Review

"Vibrant. . . Russo's gift for character is as powerful as ever, enlivened with spot-on detail." --People

"The four tales here are replete with Russo's insightful studies of relationships. . . . Throughout, we enjoy Russo's skill at weaving a story in which conflicted characters find moments of revelation and, sometimes, redemption. . . . . Rewarding and worth ruminating about." --Minneapolis Star Tribune

"The stories in Trajectory are classic Russo, tales of minor-key defeat laced with rue and humor. . . . Russo again shows how adept he is at portraying life as a tragicomedy. . . . Gives readers plenty to enjoy and mull as his characters ponder their life trajectories." --The Dallas Morning News

"Delightful. . . . Unearthing such insight on page 44 (instead of page 444) is a bit like watching a successful squeeze bunt score a runner from third--just as exciting as a home run, but a shorter trip and a rarer treat." --Paste

"Intriguing and universal. . . . Russo newcomers will begin to scope out why he's a Pulitzer Prize winner." --Houston Chronicle

"Heart-warming. . . . Absorbing. . . . A testament to Richard Russo's skill at deploying his characters. . . . All four stories are challenging not because they are difficult--they are not--but because they raise questions about why we live our lives the way we do, and if that's all right." --The Washington Times

"[An] engrossing collection." --Southern Living

"Russo remains an entertaining and interesting writer." --The Christian Science Monitor

"Russo is a master at Everyman, offering common folks doing their best to get by, the cards often stacked against them. . . . This collection is a welcome edition to Russo's work--if you haven't delved into the Pulitzer prize-winning author's books, do yourself a favor and begin." --The Missourian

"Cogent, wry and satisfying. . . . Confirm[s] Russo's status as one of the most justly celebrated American writers." --Portland Press-Herald

"Wonderful. . . . Russo's writing should be cherished." --Columbus Dispatch

"Powerful. . . . An entertaining and compellingly provocative read." --New York Journal of Books

"Potent and surprising tales. . . . Russo rarely wastes a word, interweaving details and dialogue into master classes on storytelling." --Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"A singularly satisfying journey. Very few writers so thoroughly embrace human foibles, or present them in such an accepting and empathetic manner." --Booklist (starred review)