Description
“Seven Stories About Tammy by Elizabeth McCracken, paints a portrait of a complicated family with the concision of a short story and the depth of a novel, and makes it look easy.”—Celeste Ng
Morris Harkin brings his new girlfriend Tammy to meet his family. She is not at all who they expected. But who, really, is Tammy? Across seven vignettes, in Elizabeth McCracken’s witty and tender fashion, we see Tammy through the eyes of the Harkin family throughout the years, and a picture of an insecure and unhappy family emerges.
The first in a new short stories series from Biblioasis.
Praise for Seven Stories About Tammy
“One of the best things I have ever read in my life. It made me cackle out loud and filled me with joy . . . Elizabeth McCracken is one of our greatest writers.”
—Ann Patchett
“Seven Stories About Tammy by Elizabeth McCracken, paints a portrait of a complicated family with the concision of a short story and the depth of a novel, and makes it look easy.”
—Celeste Ng
“An excellent little book to rescue you from a reading slump! I love how the title doesn’t just describe a collection of capital-S ‘Stories’—rather, it refers to the narratives invented about the eponymous, enigmatic Tammy. The prose is smooth and unassuming . . . and then you’ll fall upon a line that ignites the page with sparkling wit or gut-wrenching honesty. I really enjoyed this.”
—Jenna Massey, Shelf Life Books (Richmond, VA)
“In just 70 pages, this little gem of a book presents a searing portrait of a family. The stories of Tammy, as seen through the eyes of various adult family members, are razor sharp and universal.”
—Pat Rudebusch, Orinda Books (Orinda, CA)
“This entertaining story shows us how family dynamics can be shifted by a single outsider being brought in. We see Tammy through the eyes of her boyfriend’s family and yet we still never really know her. Who is she? How old is she anyway? A witty and intriguing story.”
—Katrina Bright-Yerges, Books and Company (Oconomowoc, WI)
“A quick and engrossing read with an incredible amount of depth and humor. This is an author I’m excited to read more of.”
—Ryan Connell, Magic City Books (Tulsa, OK)
“No one is better at showing us the sad parts of funny and the funny parts of sad. McCracken is a genius of both compassion and insight. This tiny book contains volumes, and I loved every single word.”
—Kristen, Thank You Books (Birmingham, AL)
Praise for Elizabeth McCracken
“There’s a wickedness to McCracken’s technique, the way she lures us in with her witty voice and oddball characters but then kicks the wind out of us. She never misses the infamous 7-10 split, managing to hit Annie Proulx and Anne Tyler with the same ball.”
—Ron Charles, Washington Post
“McCracken . . . proves her mastery of short fiction with these 12 tightly structured, searingly realistic stories . . . Enduring love—along with the urge to resist it—is this volume’s common theme, whether in relationships between parents and children, lovers, ex-lovers, friends, and even in-laws . . . An astonishingly powerful collection worth multiple readings.”
—Kirkus Reviews(starred review)
“The master stylist and author of Bowlaway rolls another strike with this magnificent array of idiosyncratic love stories.”
—Oprah Daily
“McCracken, herself, is a hard-working performer, an acrobat who dazzles with her verbal flexibility and lands the end of each tightly composed story with incredible skill—and feeling. Her inimitable images heighten the delight . . . McCracken’s writing is never dull . . . [a] fantastic collection.”
—NPR
“Elizabeth McCracken’s impressive third story collection evoke moving depictions of marriage and parenthood, and love, betrayal, and loneliness . . . A steady stream of exquisite writing.”
—Boston Globe
“This incisive, warm-blooded collection of stories is populated by outsiders: expatriates and repatriates, Vikings, travelling ventriloquists . . . Whether it’s over the course of a honeymoon in Amsterdam or a day at a Texas water park, McCracken illuminates qualities of human nature through fragments of her characters’ lives.”
—New Yorker
“McCracken opens up worlds in a mere sentence, and every page is illuminated with nuanced observations of human behavior.”
—Booklist
