Research Catalog

Title

Man v. nature : stories / Diane Cook.

Author

Cook, Diane, 1976-

Publication

New York : Harper, [2014]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

257 pages; 22 cm

Summary

• "A refreshingly imaginative, daring debut collection of stories which illuminates with audacious wit the complexity of human behavior, as seen through the lens of the natural world. Told with perfect rhythm and unyielding brutality, these stories expose unsuspecting men and women to the realities of nature, the primal instincts of man, and the dark humor and heartbreak of our struggle to not only thrive, but survive. In "Girl on Girl," a high school freshman goes to disturbing lengths to help an old friend. An insatiable temptress pursues the one man she can't have in "Meteorologist Dave Santana." And in the title story, a long fraught friendship comes undone when three buddies get impossibly lost on a lake it is impossible to get lost on. In Diane Cook's perilous worlds, the quotidian surface conceals an unexpected surreality that illuminates different facets of our curious, troubling, and bewildering behavior. Other stories explore situations pulled directly from the wild, imposing on human lives the danger, tension, and precariousness of the natural world: a pack of not-needed boys take refuge in a murky forest and compete against each other for their next meal; an alpha male is pursued through city streets by murderous rivals and desirous women; helpless newborns are snatched by a man who stalks them from their suburban yards. Through these characters Cook asks: What is at the root of our most heartless, selfish impulses? Why are people drawn together in such messy, complicated, needful ways? When the unexpected intrudes upon the routine, what do we discover about ourselves? As entertaining as it is dangerous, this accomplished collection explores the boundary between the wild and the civilized, where nature acts as a catalyst for human drama and lays bare our vulnerabilities, fears, and desires"--
• "A daring debut collection of short stories which illuminates with audacious wit the complexity of human behavior, as seen through the lens of the natural world"--

Uniform Title

Short stories. Selections

Alternative Title

Short stories.

Subjects

• Short stories
• Psychological fiction
• Short stories, American
• FICTION > Short Stories (single author)
• FICTION > Literary
• FICTION > General

Genre/Form

• Psychological fiction.
• Short stories.

Contents

Moving on -- The way the end of days should be -- Somebody's baby -- Girl on girl -- Man v. nature -- Marrying up -- It's coming -- Meteorologist Dave Santana -- Flotsam -- A wanted man -- The mast year -- The not-needed forest.

Call Number

JFD 14-5607

ISBN

• 9780062333100
• 0062333100

LCCN

2014012877

OCLC

868644056

Author

Cook, Diane, 1976-

Title

Man v. nature : stories / Diane Cook.

Publisher

New York : Harper, [2014]

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Added Author

Cook, Diane, 1976- Moving On.

Research Call Number

JFD 14-5607