The State We're In

The State We're In, Maine Stories by Ann  Beattie, Scribner, 2015

Ann Beattie, one of our favorite novelists, who has also been included in an Updike collection,  has come out with a great summer reading selection, The State We're In, Maine Stories.  And she's doing a book tour - Portland, Maine, Longfellow Books, Thursday August 27 at 7 pm, as well as Cambridge, Mass Sept 15, 7 pm at the Harvard Bookstore, Menlo Park, California at Kepler's, Wednesday, September 23, at 7:30,  

Beattie's stories are ironic and outright laughable observations of quirky odd-ball Maine  families and characters. "The whole world's full of stories," she says.  "I never doubted that...Most writers spend their entire careers - those who are lucky enough to have them - considering endless piles of hay, praying, just praying that a needle will prick their finger...I supposed it pricked mine when I opened my door and saw Mrs. Terhune standing there with Duff Moulton."  And there begin two of her best ironic stories, "Elvis was Ahead of Us," and "The Repurposed Barn."