Pushcart Prize winner Suzanne Rivecca quickly made a name for herself as a talented new voice in the literary world. Praised as "gripping, distinctive, and altogether impressive" (Booklist), Rivecca's debut short story collection Death Is Not an Option will captivate listeners with its raw and insightful tales featuring young women grappling with life's many uncertainties.
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"I forget how much I really like well written short stories. They keep me enthralled but also know when to end. This author is particularly good at finishing the stories so that you feel satisfied with the ending." — Ellen (5 out of 5 stars)
"I forget how much I really like well written short stories. They keep me enthralled but also know when to end. This author is particularly good at finishing the stories so that you feel satisfied with the ending."
“Suzanne Rivecca is a wonderfully lively and fearless new writer. I greatly admired the stories in Death Is Not an Option.”
“Recalls early Gaitskill in its stark depiction of girls who lost their innocence long before they knew it was theirs to lose.”
“Ferociously intelligent…Rivecca populates her stories with imperfect, acutely drawn characters, which is a rare pleasure, simply because her approximations are so believable.”
“[Rivecca’s] talent allows her to impressively flex the muscle of fiction, making us keep our attention where it belongs—on these bracing stories promising a fine career.”
“Refreshing tales, laced with bitter humor and nineties pop- culture references.”
" I only read the first two chapters but I feel like I need to wash my brain out. Why does every new-hot-book dwell so much on sex and debasing moral values? "
" These stories seem raw and screaming underneath their sometimes sassy or disassociated narration. They have that need to make the reader look at Michigan, middle class mainstream victimization of women and the pain caused by Catholicism and other topics in their real habitats --topics that we don't always look in the eye quite like this -- that is more typical of young writers. I don't mean this as a dismissal -- this third rail of emotion is often lost as writers age, and I crave the electrification. She comes close to being snarky but leaves it to her teen characters masterfully. I'm really interested to see what she does next. "
" Astonishingly good. These stories knocked my socks off. Fierce and funny and unafraid to go deep. The characters here are vivid and unforgettable. "
" This was one of those rare books where I read it once & then wanted to begin again once I had finish. Brilliantly sad. "
" I don't usually like short stories, but this book was definitely a good read! "
" These are good, well written stories, but altogether, they're much more suited to a female audience. There are things I didn't know in here. Things I had no desire to know. Things that will stay with me to the day I die. I don't want to talk about it. "
" LOVED this short story collection. just read it. "
" More like 4 1/2 stars. Some of the stories in this collection are really stellar, and I really like the way Rivecca writes. "
" Every single story in this collection disturbed me in a different way. "
" These short stories are all honest, heart-wrenching, and amazing. I couldn't stop reading until this book was over. "
" Definitely a book to make you think and takes your through some, possible, unpleasant situations, to see how things in the real world are, unfortunately. "
" One of THE BEST COLLECTIONS of short stories ever. "
" I just started this collection of short stories & I'm really enjoying the author's crass humor. The first story is about a Catholic school girl on her senior year retreat... boy does it ring a bell! "
" I really enjoyed this book a lot. The writing was clear and deep. I was all the more interested since the author lives in San Francisco and has worked in social services. "
" The collection starts out strong with the pitch-perfect tone of the eponymous first story, but the remainder of the book never achieved that kind of voice again. "
" Loved this book! Didn't really want to read it at first but loved the short stories and it was a fast read. One night. "
" Is there some rule that says short stories must be bleak tales of futility? Is there? I've been trying for decades to learn to enjoy the genre, but good GOD, so many of them are tedious tales of awful, awful people. "
" The woman knows how to hit the nail on the head. "
" Some of the best short stories I've evr read "
" She is a strong writer-I just prefer happier subject matter. "
Suzanne Rivecca was raised in West Michigan. Her first book, Death Is Not an Option, was a finalist for the Story Prize, the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, and the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award. She is the recipient of the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and writing fellowships from Stanford University, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her short stories have received two Pushcart Prizes and have been included in The Best American Short Stories 2013.
Rachel Botchan holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is a member of the Pearl Theater Company in New York. She and her husband live in New York City.
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