Send Me Work: Stories

by Katherine Karlin

Winner, 2011 Balcones Fiction Prize

Unlike the heroines of domestic fiction, Katherine Karlin's women face their biggest challenges outside of the house. The characters in this debut collection encompass a broad range of contemporary American experiences: a struggling young woman in post-Katrina New Orleans persuades a welder to teach her his trade; an orchestra oboist hears a confession from a beloved teacher; an idealistic aerobics instructor decamps for revolution- era Nicaragua to pick coffee on a farming collective.

In each of these stories, Karlin offers rare insight into the place of work in the lives of women, her narrators keenly observant and attuned to the humor that arises when life doesn't turn out as planned. But even more remarkable is the fullness with which she renders characters who make us wonder how they've escaped the notice of other writers. In unadorned prose that evokes complete worlds with deceptive ease, Karlin shows us people immersed in the negotiations of survival, just at the edge of being able to make sense of their lives.

Genres: Short Stories

170 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2011

Reviews

[Margaret Adams]

An author whose own work history includes oil refineries and shipyards writes a short story collection centered mostly on women in the sphere of traditionally male, blue collar employment. Great writing from a new favorite author. Favorites: Seven Reasons, in which a rail yard worker considers the means and motivations for suicide, and Muscle Memory, in which an 18-year-old working in a tool crib at a shipyard wrangles welding lessons out of a disillusioned coworker.

[Shira · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredibly clean, witty, and assured prose following women as they navigate questions of labor, masculinity, sexuality, and utility. (I especially love the protagonist who gives an antizionist sermon at her bat mitzvah, deeply horrifying the congregation)

[Karen Carlson]

Stories about blue-collar women esp NOLA. Chosen because she was one of Kenan Orhan's teachers.

[Tuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice and accomplished short stories around work (based from a bruce springsteen lyric? Well, maybe) so professionally edited and “finished” (is this a sign that triquarterly books knows what the hell they are doing and say like caketrain doesn’t?) , very assured, lots of plot, lots of character, lots of real life descriptions of real things like landscapes, tools, feelings. “muscle memory” set in new Orleans evokes both the gritty world or welding and dying world of new Orleans music. And “severac sound” too has the world of musicians mixed with wonderful evocations of place, both old nyc and new east coast florida. I like how all her woman characters are the exact opposite of stereotype. Great job Katherine karlin!

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katherine Karlin has done a beautiful thing - she's used clean and lovely prose to elevate blue collar work. Each of the short stories in this collection tells a woman's story in her workplace - print shops, oil refineries, delivery cars, railroad yards, symphony orchestras - and does it in an accessible tone and form that belies the layers of complexity she has built in. I loved that she told the stories of women at work- women with sore feet and backs, calloused hands, and muscles with long memories. I'll be reading it, again, to savor the prose and to nod in agreement as I see friends and family reflected in the pages.

[Bill Glose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each of the short stories in this collection feature working women in traditionally male roles. Katherine Karlin’s heroines work in paper factories and shipyards, learn to weld, fishmonger, and pick coffee beans. Karlin devotes attentive prose to the jobs they inhabit, painting such vivid pictures of factory floors and dust-caked offices that the reader is transported to them. With keen insight, she also pens interior dialogues of the characters questioning their place in the world. A beautifully written collection.

[Akeiisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous and bleak, this collection of short stories are a window into the lives of characters struggling with their place in work and in life. Karlin doesn't just focus on females in predominantly male workplaces, she delves into their surroundings and other factors that shape who they are in short digestible bites.

[cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

2011 Book 128/100

Fabulous, gritty short stories that illuminate a wide variety of women's work and the challenges that come with it in our male-dominated culture. Loved these stories and their main characters - especially the welder and the oboist.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written short stories, but kind of bleak.

[Patricia Geller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting stories told by a writer who has worked on oil refineries and many of the stories center on that. Quick read.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great debut collection. Can't wait to see what Karlin does next.