The Foreseeable Future: Three Stories

by Reynolds Price

A collection of three stories features "The Fare to the Moon," "Back before Day," and the title story, in which a soldier returns barely whole from the war and must find a reason to live. By the author of Blue Calhoun. Reprint.

275 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 14, 1991

About the author

Reynolds Price was born in Macon, North Carolina in 1933. Educated at Duke University and, as a Rhodes Scholar, at Merton College, Oxford University. He taught at Duke since 1958 and was James B. Duke Professor of English.

His first short stories, and many later ones, are published in his Collected Stories. A Long and Happy Life was published in 1962 and won the William Faulkner Award for a best first novel. Kate Vaiden was published in 1986 and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Good Priest's Son in 2005 was his fourteenth novel. Among his thirty-seven volumes are further collections of fiction, poetry, plays, essays, and translations. Price was a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and his work has been translated into seventeen languages.

Photo courtesy of Reynolds Price's author page on Amazon.com

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've found it impossible to choose which of the three stories in this volume that I liked the most - The Foreseeable Future in which a young man returns from the war still feeling wounded, The Fare to the Moon describing a man's living with a black woman whom he prefers to his wife, or Back Before Day about the problems of a troubled football coach and the decision he makes after seeing a former student nearly killed in a motorcycle accident. Price writes so well that you feel you've known all the characters a long time.

[Harron68 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable. The only (what could be called a flaw) is that the three stories are short stories, mostly. You want to know what's next for the people. Short stories are a slice of life, though good ones want us asking for more. Reynolds Price was a gift to all readers. Would that more of us read his fine books!

[Jane Elfring · Rating 3 out of 5]

These three stories follow three different men through their struggles, two with a World War II background, the other from Vietnam. Each story looks at the relationship of these men with family members and friends. Each deals with different demons. These stories aren't tied up neatly at the end and lead happy endings. They leave the reader to ponder what will be next for them.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The three stories in this volume are incredibly moving. Price certainly knew how to play on our emotions. He also captures the North Carolina milieu, and slices of American life in the forties extremely well.

[Lynn Coburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Reynolds Price never disappoints. His words pour into my soul.

[Pam Walrath]

Good, solid book with 3 different stories. Reynolds Price is an extraordinary storyteller!

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I wrote at the time, "Price again shows himself a master of dialogue (especially Southern wit), rich characterizations and memorable images."

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love his lyrical style and rich description of people and life in the South