I Know Some Things: Stories About Childhood by Contemporary Writers

by Lorrie Moore (Editor)

"When writers of fiction have made the effort to explore the mottled landscape of a child's secrets and understanding, they have often created stories of ferocious poignancy", Lorrie Moore writes in her Introduction to this exceptional collection of stories, in which the contradictions and hypocrisies of the adult world are seen through the eyes of children.

In this collection of tales by some of today's best writers, including Margaret Atwood, Toni Cade Bambara, Charles Baxter, Spalding Gray, Susan Minot, and Alice Munro, each story is told by a child character or by the adult who was that child, skillfully preserving the child's voice and role as both an actor and a witness in the drama.Chosen by the acclaimed writer Lorrie Moore for their insight and literary brilliance, these stories range across age, gender, class, ethnicity, and geography. They will resonate with readers as they convey not only individual stories of heartache and joy but also universal themes of growing up and coming to see, if not understand, the world in a new and different way.

Lies / Glenda Adams --
Betty / Margaret Atwood --
Gorilla, my love / Toni Cade Bambara --
Gryphon / Charles Baxter --
Daley's girls / Catherine Brady --
His son, in his arms, in light, aloft / Harold Brodkey --
The point / Charles D'Ambrosio, Jr. --
I know some things / D.J. Durnam --
Signs and wonders / Max Garland --
Sex and death to the age 14 / Spalding Gray --
Gwen / Jamaica Kincaid --
My mother's clothes : the school of beauty and shame / Richard McCann --
The Ponoes / Peter Meinke --
Murderers / Leonard Michaels --
Hiding / Susan Minot --
The turkey season / Alice Munro --
Beautiful my mane in the wind / Catherine Petroski --
Out-of-the-body travel / Sheila Schwartz --
Rules of the game / Amy Tan --
Dog Heaven / Stephanie Vaughn

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Literary Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

LORRIE MOORE is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. She is the recipient of a Lannan Foundation fellowship, as well as the PEN/Malamud Award and the Rea Award for her achievement in the short story. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Reviews

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm actually re-reading this collection and so impressed with it. There are some real classics: Charles Baxter's "Gryphon" Amy Tan's "Rules of the Game" Susan Minot's "Hiding" that every short story writer should know, as well as more obscure, but quality works like Alice Munro's "Turkey Season" and Stephanie Vaughn's "Dog Heaven." One thing that makes this anthology special is the variety of narratives - voices, eras, points of view - and it is rare to find a collection so diverse that is not simply a show of the kind of stories the editor likes.

Nicholas DelBlanco is quoted as saying we experience every major emotion by age four, from euphoria to fear of death, and this collection truly shows what rich material childhood experience is.

[Ciara]

My favorite stories in this anthology were "Gryphon" by Charles Baxter and "Beautiful My Mane in the Wind" by Catherine Petroski. I enjoyed how each story was memorable and captured a piece of childhood. I will definitely seek out more work by Baxter and Petroski!

[Barrie Llewelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some great stories here. Many of them, I will use with Creative Writing students next year. Nice to meet some writer's I haven't met before too.

[Tim Nason · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐️ I am going to re-read most of the stories again ASAP. Great collection!

[Treasure Island Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's interesting to see the commonalities of adolescence through the eyes of others.

[Zoë Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

"For a long time afterwards I thought of the minister’s statements about suffering. I knew nothing about it except that some people wore it on their sleeves and some kept it inside."
-Max Garland

I Know Some Things is a collection of short stories about childhood by contemporary writers compiled by Lorrie Moore, a successful short story writer herself. Because of Moore's own penchant for beautiful writing, I think I expected slightly more from the collection. I was also definitely disappointed that Moore didn't include one of her own works. There are certainly some stories which are better than others, and to be honest for me the ones I enjoyed the most were those which took a less metaphorical and more literal approach towards childhood. I love reading about how one of many daughters and their strict father, or one boy who helps take drunk ladies homes from parties while they tell him their secrets. These were the stories that captured the essence of childhood in one anecdote, the mystery and the rebellion.



My favourite stories of the collection were "The Point" by Charles D’Ambrosio, “Signs and Wonders” by Max Garland, "Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan and most surprisingly for me "Betty" by Margaret Atwood. Unfortunately three of these four amazing stories occur in the first third of the collection, which meant that I Know Some Things took several weeks for me to finish as I could never get fully engaged in the collection. Perhaps this is slightly my own fault, as lately I've been reading a lot of novels which do not require the focus of a short story in which you only have a limited amount of pages to get to know the characters. Ultimately what I can thank this collection for is introducing me to several new (to me) and talented writers whose other works I will be pursuing. There were times when I Know Some Things brought me back to my own childhood, but those instances were far fewer than I expected and although the collection excelled when it came to diversity of opinions, consistency of quality of writing is what let me down most. ***

[Mike Burrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like stories dealing with geriatrics, I have a strong aversion to those generally categorized as "coming-of-age." I don't know why. Maybe I've read so many of both. Which would mean that I've read a lot of really bad ones--those that attempt to take gratuitous tugs at my heart strings. But the stories in this anthology are examples of "coming-of-age" at its very finest. I appreciated the craft in all of them, enjoyed most of them and really loved: "Gryphon" by Charles Baxter, "Gorilla, My Love" by Toni Cade Bambara, "The Point" by Charles D'Ambrosio, Jr., and "The Turkey Season" by Alice Munro.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-curated collection of first-person narratives about childhood knowledge, secrets, and confusions. A better organizing theme than most, as it gives all these stories a legitimate reason to cohabitate. The overall impact is greater than the sum of its parts.

Variable, as with all anthologies, but some real standouts:

* Charles D'Ambrosio Jr's "The Point"
* Max Garland's "Signs and Wonders"
* Alice Munro's "The Turkey Season"
* Sheila Schwartz's "Out-of-the-Body Travel"
* Amy Tan's "Rules of the Game"
* Stephanie Vaughn's "Dog Heaven"

[Bre Teschendorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE short stories and I read this book of short stories about 4 times. It is a really good collection of different thoughts about childhood. Sometimes short stories (in general and) about childhood have such a negative slant, all heartbreak and destruction. This book was a good mix.

[Taryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite short story collections. It crosses boundaries, reveals tales of childhood emotion, and discriminates against nothing. Amy Tan and Spaulding Grey are shining through in this collection. I have bought this several times over.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was filled with short stories from authors' childhoods. Most of the authors were unfamiliar to me. The best stories were: Signs & Wonders, about a preacher uncle, and Sex and Death to the Age 14. Packed with dozens of details from the 40's, 50's and 60's, they depict an era long past.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Know Some Things: Stories about Childhood by Contemporary Writers by Lorrie Moore – One of the books I read while writing my novel in college. If you love child narrators, this is a fantastic collection! Happy Reading!

[Lorene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some excellent stories - some not so much. Even those I didn't enjoy as much overall still rang true in certain respects, so I probably liked the collection more than my "3" rating reflects.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there was a story by Lorrie Moore about childhood in this book. There isn't. I would like to give this book 4 stars, but some of the stories weren't as good.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What it says on the tin. I like short stories and enjoyed most of these though none really grabbed me.

[Sabrina Eads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read only parts of this.

[Susan Gomperts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories better than most, kind of disappointing.