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Beautiful Girl: Stories
Tells the stories of a maid, a college girl in Paris, a girl's visit to a psychiatrist, a burglary, two dissimilar brothers, a jealous husband, and an alcoholic heiress
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
263 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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92 people want to read
About the author
Alice Adams
64 books48 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Alice Adams was an American novelist, short story writer, academic and university professor.
She was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia and attended Radcliffe College, graduating in 1946. She married, and had a child, but her marriage broke up, and she spent several years as a single mother, working as a secretary. Her psychiatrist told her to give up writing and get remarried; instead she published her first novel, Careless Love (1966), and a few years later she published her first short story in The New Yorker. She wrote many novels but she's best known for her short stories, in collections such as After You've Gone (1989) and The Last Lovely City (1999).
She won numerous awards including the O. Henry Award, and Best American Short Stories Award.
Alice Adams was an American novelist, short story writer, academic and university professor.
She was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia and attended Radcliffe College, graduating in 1946. She married, and had a child, but her marriage broke up, and she spent several years as a single mother, working as a secretary. Her psychiatrist told her to give up writing and get remarried; instead she published her first novel, Careless Love (1966), and a few years later she published her first short story in The New Yorker. She wrote many novels but she's best known for her short stories, in collections such as After You've Gone (1989) and The Last Lovely City (1999).
She won numerous awards including the O. Henry Award, and Best American Short Stories Award.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 31, 2016
A short story collection from a writer of some prominence in the mid-late 20th century. Not much known these days. Kind of like Calder Willingham. I read the first story("Verlie I Say Unto You") last night and it reminded me of Faulkner ..."That Evening Sun."
The first three stories, including the one mentioned above, are about the Todd family. By the end of the third one the mother and father have died. There's a span of many years. Seems obvious that the daughter is a stand-in for the author. The mother draws a lot of the author's attention: her unhappy life, particularly her unfulfilling, non-loving marriage(and eventual divorce from) to an aloof skirt-chaser and a-hole academic. One is reminded of another Alice, Munro, but this author's style is less detached than Munro's in these three tales. Her emotional connection to the characters in the stories is more direct.
"Gift of Grass" and "Winter Rain" - the struggles of being a teen-ager in a shaky family set-up and then a young woman in love in Paris. In these stories life is uncertain for the young female protagonist. Adults are baffling, attractive and off-putting by turns. Very well-written stuff. Lots of irony from the semi-detached author looking back on her own life - I assume.
"Ripped Off" - more relationship ambiguity and more similarities with Alice Munro, but AA's characters seem bit more insecure - more girly(???). More American! Her background was also much more affluent than Munro's as I recall.
"The Swastika Over the Door" is a story of outsiders and the failure to thrive/survive in adulthood of people with serious emotional and physical handicaps. ALSO the story of one who does find his way to the good life despite the handicap of his background. What's required is the appropriate amount of selfishness and self-preservation! And, of course, it's also about the fine writing.
"A Jealous Husband" - more exhibition of the emotional and relation challenges of oddball smart people. Harsh AND funny...
"Flights" - Hawaii! Another festival of bright, dysfunctional personalities. Jacob meets his dream-lover and POOF! she gone ...
And next the title story and more lovely, bitter writing from the talented A. A. Her protagonists just can't seem to "do" life in any kind of mature, sensible, adult kind of way. Their path's are mighty psychic struggles.
"Home Is Where" - More love and sex struggles for AA's characters. I assume that they are very much based on the author's struggles and the struggles of people she encountered up close and from further away. The female lead in this story reminds me of my late sister, who battled compulsive love, sex, drug, alcohol, tobacco and food issues for all of her adult life. I've had some of those same issues myself(of course - it's in the family!). The lead character's own family can be easily seen as the source of her problems - what an awful set of parents!
"Attrition" - Life is scary, unsettling and downright depressing when change and loss happens. In this case it's the moving away of special friends. A. A. gets inside the aching challenge of "figuring out" relationships/life. How to make them "work" ... finding that elusive bluebird of happiness is more challenging for some(her main characters) than others.
"Roses, Rhododendron" - another story about life, love, friendship and the randomness of loss and gain. The writing continues to be excellent.
- AA uses the adjective "gusty" in this story but I'm not sure what specific meaning she intended: windy, or the slang for disgusting, which I first heard and didn't "get" while trying to chat with Sue Otteson at a dance class my freshman year at boarding school. She asked want one would do if one wound up with a "gusty" roommate! I just looked it up and here are two more. Enthusiastic speaking or overly enthusiastic speaking...
Finished this over the weekend with two more stories read: "What Should I have Done" and "For Good." As with all the others the stories seem a bit dated now. The protagonists grew up mid-century America. They drink and smoke a lot. They divorce a lot. They move around the country a lot. They learn as the go how to maybe find some happiness with each other. The writing is a major plus. Many of the "problems" illustrated here will seem familiar to those of us inhabiting this middle-class, affluent, unsettled and unsettling culture. A solid 4* book!
The first three stories, including the one mentioned above, are about the Todd family. By the end of the third one the mother and father have died. There's a span of many years. Seems obvious that the daughter is a stand-in for the author. The mother draws a lot of the author's attention: her unhappy life, particularly her unfulfilling, non-loving marriage(and eventual divorce from) to an aloof skirt-chaser and a-hole academic. One is reminded of another Alice, Munro, but this author's style is less detached than Munro's in these three tales. Her emotional connection to the characters in the stories is more direct.
"Gift of Grass" and "Winter Rain" - the struggles of being a teen-ager in a shaky family set-up and then a young woman in love in Paris. In these stories life is uncertain for the young female protagonist. Adults are baffling, attractive and off-putting by turns. Very well-written stuff. Lots of irony from the semi-detached author looking back on her own life - I assume.
"Ripped Off" - more relationship ambiguity and more similarities with Alice Munro, but AA's characters seem bit more insecure - more girly(???). More American! Her background was also much more affluent than Munro's as I recall.
"The Swastika Over the Door" is a story of outsiders and the failure to thrive/survive in adulthood of people with serious emotional and physical handicaps. ALSO the story of one who does find his way to the good life despite the handicap of his background. What's required is the appropriate amount of selfishness and self-preservation! And, of course, it's also about the fine writing.
"A Jealous Husband" - more exhibition of the emotional and relation challenges of oddball smart people. Harsh AND funny...
"Flights" - Hawaii! Another festival of bright, dysfunctional personalities. Jacob meets his dream-lover and POOF! she gone ...
And next the title story and more lovely, bitter writing from the talented A. A. Her protagonists just can't seem to "do" life in any kind of mature, sensible, adult kind of way. Their path's are mighty psychic struggles.
"Home Is Where" - More love and sex struggles for AA's characters. I assume that they are very much based on the author's struggles and the struggles of people she encountered up close and from further away. The female lead in this story reminds me of my late sister, who battled compulsive love, sex, drug, alcohol, tobacco and food issues for all of her adult life. I've had some of those same issues myself(of course - it's in the family!). The lead character's own family can be easily seen as the source of her problems - what an awful set of parents!
"Attrition" - Life is scary, unsettling and downright depressing when change and loss happens. In this case it's the moving away of special friends. A. A. gets inside the aching challenge of "figuring out" relationships/life. How to make them "work" ... finding that elusive bluebird of happiness is more challenging for some(her main characters) than others.
"Roses, Rhododendron" - another story about life, love, friendship and the randomness of loss and gain. The writing continues to be excellent.
- AA uses the adjective "gusty" in this story but I'm not sure what specific meaning she intended: windy, or the slang for disgusting, which I first heard and didn't "get" while trying to chat with Sue Otteson at a dance class my freshman year at boarding school. She asked want one would do if one wound up with a "gusty" roommate! I just looked it up and here are two more. Enthusiastic speaking or overly enthusiastic speaking...
Finished this over the weekend with two more stories read: "What Should I have Done" and "For Good." As with all the others the stories seem a bit dated now. The protagonists grew up mid-century America. They drink and smoke a lot. They divorce a lot. They move around the country a lot. They learn as the go how to maybe find some happiness with each other. The writing is a major plus. Many of the "problems" illustrated here will seem familiar to those of us inhabiting this middle-class, affluent, unsettled and unsettling culture. A solid 4* book!
September 5, 2024
A good writer as Dorothy Parker would say.
October 11, 2010
Th
Beautiful Girl & Other Stories by Alice Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is an older book (1959)of short stories. I like the character developement and the writing style.
View all my reviews
is is an older book (1959)of short stories. I like the character developement and the writing style.
Beautiful Girl & Other Stories by Alice AdamsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is an older book (1959)of short stories. I like the character developement and the writing style.
View all my reviews
is is an older book (1959)of short stories. I like the character developement and the writing style.
July 31, 2010
A semi-interesting collection of short stories, somewhat uneven in quality - some deserved a 5 star rating and others a 1 star rating, hence the overall rating of 3 stars.
November 9, 2011
Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews