Short stories by Carolyn Cooke
Carolyn Cooke is the author of two collections of short fiction and a novel. Her most recent book, Amor and Psycho, was named one of the ten best books of 2013 by Publishers Weekly. Her novel, Daughters of the Revolution, was named one of the ten best books of 2011 by TheSan Francisco Chronicle and one of the Reviewers' Favorite novels of that year by TheNew Yorker Magazine. Her debut collection of fiction, The Bostons (Houghton Mifflin), was a winner of the PEN/ Bingham Award, a finalist for the PEN/L.L. Winship Award, a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway Award, and was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times.
Listing 4 stories.
On a trip through Europe, an old man grapples with his terminal illness and finds himself increasingly disappointed by his current lover and missing his old flame.
An eight-year-old girl attends a family lunch with her aunt, uncles, and cousins. Family drama ensues as a baby is hidden from his grandmother, an uncle drinks too much alcohol, and children indulge in naughty conversation.
One day in a public garden a widowed housewife recalls a humiliating luncheon with her husband's mistress.
An elderly widower cares for his disabled brother while his sister-in-law visits the hospital. Believing his brother’s condition is a burden, the man tries to confront the situation and learns surprising truths about his family.