Abundant Light

by Miner, Valerie

• ISBN13: 9780870137198
• ISBN10: 0870137190
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-30
• Publisher: Michigan State Univ Pr

Summary

Abundant Light, Valerie Miner's fourth collection of short fiction, reveals a master storyteller writing in her prime. This collection looks closely at definitions of family and asks how this fragile and frightening entity can shape us, nurture us, or even destroy us. These stories also explore friendship as it is enriched by differences in nationality, race, class, and gender. Whether set in Calcutta, Cornwall, Alberta, Edinburgh, or the Coastal Range of California, each story is imbued with a resonant spirit of place. Light is a presence and metaphor in each of these stories, physical light as well as light ranging through human insight and reflection, as characters face the possibilities of forgiveness, acceptance and reunion. This collection contains stories from the best literary journals, The Georgia Review, New Letters, Salmagundi, Southwest Review, Prairie Schooner, as well as from BBC Radio 4 and Ms.

Author Biography

Valerie Miner teaches in the MFA Program at the University of Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Abundant Light	1	(17)
Greyhound, 1970	18	(11)
Veranda	29	(24)
Playing Catch	53	(9)
Something Special	62	(2)
The House with Nobody in It	64	(13)
Back Home at the Driftwood Lodge	77	(13)
Il Cortegiano of Thomas Avenue	90	(7)
Percussion	97	(18)
What She Didn't Say	115	(5)
Always Avoid Accidents	120	(10)
Cocktails	130	(10)
They Burn Witches, Don't They?	140	(11)
All the Way	151	(13)
The Fall	164	(3)
Three Women by the River, at One Time or Another	167	(3)
Vital Signs	170	(21)
Acknowledgments	191