清潔女工手記: 露西亞．柏林短篇小說集

by Lucia Berlin

露西亞．柏林從1960年代起開始創作，畢生發表了70餘篇短篇小說，卻一直到她逝世11年後，選集《清潔女工手記》出版，才真正聲名大噪，獲得遲來的矚目。本書收錄其最精彩的43篇作品，在美國問市第二週便登上《紐約時報》暢銷榜，短短數週內便超過了作家生前的作品總銷量。書評讚嘆柏林為「你從未聽聞過的最優秀作家」，更將其與短篇小說名家瑞蒙．卡佛、理查．葉慈、喬治．桑德斯相提並論。 《清潔女工手記》的許多故事發生在美國社會生活的最邊緣：西德州、新墨西哥州內陸沙漠、加州奧克蘭的貧民區，甚至擴及拉丁美洲的墨西哥城、智利。從深夜的自助洗衣店、擠滿老人與女傭的公車、勒戒中心、急診室到拖車屋，從與酒癮掙扎的母親、穿戴背部矯正支架的孤獨小孩、過著波希米亞生活的爵士樂手、懷孕的青少女到遲暮的老人，都是柏林著眼的對象。尤其，對於清潔工、護士、總機、代課教師、文書職員等在文學作品中備受忽略的藍領、粉領女性勞動者的生活世界，有著難能可貴的細膩洞察。 柏林以鮮活的口語式風格、銳利的幽默妙語，刻劃出平凡日常中奇蹟般的人情物事，在疲於奔命的現實中，捕捉一瞬間降臨的頓悟、救贖，與詩意，或者在輕描淡寫之際拋給讀者一句戛然而止的殘酷扭轉。

346 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 20, 2018

About the author

Berlin began publishing relatively late in life, under the encouragement and sometimes tutelage of poet Ed Dorn. Her first small collection, Angels Laundromat was published in 1981, but her published stories were written as early as 1960. Several of her stories appeared in magazines such as The Atlantic and Saul Bellow’s little magazine The Noble Savage.

Berlin published six collections of short stories, but most of her work can be found in three later volumes from Black Sparrow Books: Homesick: New and Selected Stories, So Long: Stories 1987-92 and Where I Live Now: Stories 1993-98.

Berlin was never a bestseller, but was widely influential within the literary community. She aspired to Chekhov's objectivity and refusal to judge. She has also been widely compared to Raymond Carver and Richard Yates. One of her most memorable achievements was the stunning one-page story "My Jockey," which captured a world, a moment and a panoramic movement in five quick paragraphs. It won the Jack London Short Prize for 1985. Berlin also won an American Book Award in 1991 for Homesick, and was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.