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Property: Stories Between Two Novellas Audiobook
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A striking new collection of ten short stories and two novellas that explores the idea of property in every meaning of the word, from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award finalist So Much for That and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin.
Intermingling settings in America and Britain, Lionel Shriver’s first collection explores property in both senses of the word: real estate and stuff. These pieces illustrate how our possessions act as proxies for ourselves, and how tussles over ownership articulate the power dynamics of our relationships. In Lionel Shriver’s world, we may possess people and objects and places, but in turn they possess us.
In the stunning novella ""The Standing Chandelier,"" a woman with a history of attracting other women’s antagonism creates a deeply personal wedding present for her best friend and his fiancée—only to discover that the jealous fiancée wants to cut her out of their lives. In ""Domestic Terrorism,"" a thirty-something son refuses to leave home, resulting in a standoff that renders him a millennial cause célèbre. In ""The ChapStick,"" a middle-aged man subjugated by service to his elderly father discovers that the last place you should finally assert yourself is airport security. In ""Vermin,"" an artistic Brooklyn couple’s purchase of a ramshackle house destroys their once-passionate relationship. In ""The Subletter,"" two women, both foreign conflict junkies, fight over a claim to a territory that doesn’t belong to either.
Exhibiting a satisfying thematic unity unusual for a collection, this masterful work showcases the biting insight that has made Shriver one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.
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“Two novellas and ten stories by the author of We Need to Talk about Kevin skewer the absurdities of materialism, wherein possessions substitute for meaning and power is exerted by, say, being thirty years old and refusing to leave your parents’ house.”
— O, The Oprah Magazine
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“A collection of short fiction that becomes a wry catalog of the many ways an acquisitive urge can go astray. Renters become unhappy owners; a wedding gift prompts a battle among friends; a man and his father feud over £160 and the price of an airmail stamp.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Set in Britain and the United States, the stories explore the relationship between people, property, and other ‘stuff.’”
— New York Post -
“Wry and nimble…Shriver’s stories will make readers laugh when they feel they shouldn’t, and the uniting theme of houses and humans works exceedingly well.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“Whether unlikable or likable yet behaving badly, Shriver’s characters are complex and well drawn, and the pieces here are all engaging.”
— Library Journal -
“Award-winning Shriver’s enthusiastic audience will delight in her clever and literary analyses of the spaces we occupy, and how they’re all too often no broader than a knife’s edge.”
— Booklist
Awards
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A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice
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O Magazine Pick of 10 Titles to Pick Up Now
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A New York Post Pick of the Week
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About Lionel Shriver
Lionel Shriver is a novelist whose books include Orange Prize winner We Need to Talk about Kevin, The Post-Birthday World, A Perfectly Good Family, Game Control, Double Fault, The Female of the Species, Checker and the Derailleurs, and Ordinary Decent Criminals. She is widely published as a journalist, writing features, columns, op-eds, and book reviews for the London Guardian, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Economist, Marie Claire, and many other publications. She is frequently interviewed on television, radio, and in print media.