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Nothing is Precious
This collection of short stories, the inaugural title in the John Keeble Series of Rural American Writing, presents a singular view of rural America—of broken-down towns not far from the cruel indifference of nature, and weary men and women finding in the natural world both refuge and captivity, heartache and home. The stories, whether set along Maine’s Atlantic coast or in the wilds of Yellowstone, are driven by the complex backbeat of family connection. The characters are affectionate and flawed: lobstermen and military wives, questing teens and scientists, mismatched lovers and uncertain artists. They want great truths for each other, even when those truths are wrapped in pain.
240 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2024
10 people want to read
About the author
Stefani Jaye Farris
2 books3 followersStefani Jaye Farris was raised on a small farm in Maine, and lives with her family in Wyoming. She is the recipient of multiple fellowships from the Wyoming Arts Council and has had artist residencies at Ucross Foundation and the Island Institute in Sitka, Alaska. Her fiction and nonfiction appears in journals around the country. Nothing is Precious is her first book.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 7, 2024
Wow, what a slam dunk this collection is!!! Stefani Farris gets it all right, in precise, heavy hitting language: a young woman's weird sexual encounters with older men; longing for home, even when you had to move away to breathe; a parent's panicked love for a child; the relentless, indifferent honesty of the wilderness. Cannot say enough about this collection, a master at the top of her form.
June 17, 2024
Incredible debut collection of short stories by the singularly talented, Stefani Jaye Farris. I loved this book. And I recommend it to everybody.
Nothing is Precious is a rarity in the world of single-author story collections (in my humble opinion) because every story is compelling. There’s no fluff here. No filler. Every title is a strong, beautifully told, fully realized work of literature.
Farris’ stories are often unsettling, often in surprising ways. As a reader, the stakes always feel high, and never due to contrived devices or plot twists. The tension and intensity of these stories flow from the characters themselves, from the mere fact of them, from their hearts, minds, and bodies, from their precarious futures and their life circumstances, all of it on the line and on full display. At least that’s what it felt like to me when I read these stories: like real human lives were in the balance.
It’s a special brand of literary magic that can make a reader care so much about made up characters, make those characters feel, act, talk and behave like real, living, human beings. Stefani Farris’ stories have this magic; it’s woven reliably through all of them.
And that’s ultimately what stands out most to me: Farris’ characters. They all feel real and true somehow, and, dare I say it…precious? They do. At least they’re precious to me.
Like many great literary characters—and regardless of whether you want them to—Farris’ characters have a way of sticking with you after their stories are over. And if you’re like me, some of them might even become a permanent part of you, like old friends, or former lovers—like people you knew and loved when you were still young and still discovering the world, still falling in love with it, still letting it break your heart…still smarting and vibrating and reeling from the joys and traumas and triumphs and injustices and pleasures and humiliations of youth.
Do you remember that time? These stories do. They’ll take you there if you let them.
Nothing is Precious is a rarity in the world of single-author story collections (in my humble opinion) because every story is compelling. There’s no fluff here. No filler. Every title is a strong, beautifully told, fully realized work of literature.
Farris’ stories are often unsettling, often in surprising ways. As a reader, the stakes always feel high, and never due to contrived devices or plot twists. The tension and intensity of these stories flow from the characters themselves, from the mere fact of them, from their hearts, minds, and bodies, from their precarious futures and their life circumstances, all of it on the line and on full display. At least that’s what it felt like to me when I read these stories: like real human lives were in the balance.
It’s a special brand of literary magic that can make a reader care so much about made up characters, make those characters feel, act, talk and behave like real, living, human beings. Stefani Farris’ stories have this magic; it’s woven reliably through all of them.
And that’s ultimately what stands out most to me: Farris’ characters. They all feel real and true somehow, and, dare I say it…precious? They do. At least they’re precious to me.
Like many great literary characters—and regardless of whether you want them to—Farris’ characters have a way of sticking with you after their stories are over. And if you’re like me, some of them might even become a permanent part of you, like old friends, or former lovers—like people you knew and loved when you were still young and still discovering the world, still falling in love with it, still letting it break your heart…still smarting and vibrating and reeling from the joys and traumas and triumphs and injustices and pleasures and humiliations of youth.
Do you remember that time? These stories do. They’ll take you there if you let them.
July 9, 2024
An enjoyable collection about the many ways we find ourselves trapped.
“It’s a strange thing to enter a family after it has veered from its original course” (31).
“It’s a strange thing to enter a family after it has veered from its original course” (31).
October 16, 2024
This debut collection of short stories blew my hat off! Every story was solid in its construction, depth and beauty. Farris used poetic music in many descriptive passages with her handling of 'muscular' verbs that cause the reader to slightly pause in the loveliness of the language. Or it did me! Here's one example:
"We drove silently, past the tourist shops ribboned with windsocks, over the long bridge that stitched the islands to the mainland."
The characters often carry a wistfulness & profundity in speech and/or thought done with a spareness & a quiet that echoes the western country landscape or the rural coastal lands of Maine where the stories are set. As with many United Statesian rural writers, 'place' often is its own character.
I love how Farris, with seeming ease, hooks the reader perfectly into the story from the opening sentences.
From the title story: 'Nicholas Lord is not my son but the son of the man I love.'
From, Together We Shall Go Until We Die: 'The drive to the lake takes forever. Traffic is bad and construction in Augusta slows us down. I feed Matt's Zeppelin tapes into the player one after another, and he alternates between cigarettes, a joint, and a giant iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. It's the kind of day Mainers call a scorcher.'
From, Wolves and Ravens: 'When Jacob left it was for the wolves.'
I savored each tale. Excellent dialog, scenic sections, melancholy but never sentimental characters, delicate tension and perfect pace. Highly recommend!
June 13, 2024
My biased opinion: I love these stories and characters!
September 11, 2025
My favorite short stories: 31 Flavors And None That I Want, Nothing Is Precious, Traps, Grown Children
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews