The Store of a Million Items: Stories

by Michelle Cliff

A collection of stories by a Caribbean-American author depicts characters caught in the confrontations between Black and white, male and female, and the United States and the third world

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

115 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Michelle Cliff (born 2 November 1946) is a Jamaican-American author whose notable works include No Telephone to Heaven, Abeng and Free Enterprise.

Cliff also has written short stories, prose poems and works of literary criticism. Her works explore the various, complex identity problems that stem from post-colonialism, as well as the difficulty of establishing an authentic, individual identity despite race and gender constructs. Cliff is a lesbian who grew up in Jamaica.

Cliff was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1946 and moved with her family to New York City three years later. She was educated at Wagner College and the Warburg Institute at the University of London. She has held academic positions at several colleges including Trinity College and Emory University.

Cliff was a contributor to the Black feminist anthology Home Girls.

As of 1999, Cliff was living in Santa Cruz, California, with her partner, poet Adrienne Rich. The two were partners from 1976; Rich died in 2012.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Ren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't say I was awfully impressed with these stories. It's a slim volume so I did finish it though if it had been much longer, I wouldn't have. I just didn't enjoy the style of writing or the stories themselves.

[Kynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short stories.

[amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've lost my copy of this book. It's a shame because it's definitely a collection to be read and re-read.

[Abbi Dion]

beautiful stories.