Books
2 X 2
The Riddle of Life and Death
"Tell Me a Riddle" and "The Death of Ivan Ilych"
These two stories by Tillie Olsen and Leo Tolstoy dare to pose difficult existential questions: What is the meaning of life? Was my life of value? Why am I dying?
The Power of Weakness
Stories of the Chinese Revolution
This unique collection juxtaposes the Chinese writing master Lu Hsun’s pre-revolutionary fiction about rural women’s personal sacrifices against Ding Ling’s revolutionary inspirational literature of women’s survival despite wartime atrocities.
Rites of Compassion
"Old Mrs. Harris" and "A Simple Heart"
Personally selected and introduced by Mary Gordon, these two paired stories ask questions about self and the demands of family. Both Cather and Flaubert show how families, whether created by birth or by a person’s choices, treat their aging members.
Here and Somewhere Else
Stories and Poems
This collection juxtaposing stories and poems yields revealing comparisons while validating the truth that artists can write politically in many different ways.
Inventing the Real
"The Old Maid" and "The Real Thing"
Using shades of irony to capture moments of surprise and sadness, Edith Wharton and Henry James play with reality—in the work of a portrait artist and in the secret love of a "fallen" woman for her daughter.
To Stir the Heart
Four African Stories
From origin myths to tales of modern prostitutes in search of dignity—even for only a moment—these powerful stories by two renowned African authors explore the uneasy coexistence between women and men, tradition, and modernity.
The review praises HIS OWN WHERE, calling it a "fantastic book filled with small, unique scenes and daunting poetry."
BASE TEN written by Maryann Lesert has been named Essential Reading by Literary Mama, a reading and literary website for the "maternally inclined."
Maya Nussbaum, executive director of Girls Write Now.
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