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Secrets and Surprises
These fifteen stories by Ann Beattie garnered universal critical acclaim on their first publication, earning Beattie the reputation as the most celebrated new voice in American fiction. Today these stories -- "A Vintage Thunderbird;" "The Lawn Party, " " La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans," to name a few -- seem even more powerful, and are read and studied as classics of the short-story form. Spare and elegant, yet charged with feeling and with the tension of things their characters cannot say, they are masterly portraits of improvised lives.
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1978
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262 people want to read
About the author
Ann Beattie
142 books412 followersAnn Beattie (born September 8, 1947) is an American short story writer and novelist. She has received an award for excellence from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and a PEN/Bernard Malamud Award for excellence in the short story form. Her work has been compared to that of Alice Adams, J.D. Salinger, John Cheever, and John Updike. She holds an undergraduate degree from American University and a masters degree from the University of Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 2, 2024
Love her style and need to read some more of her writing!
April 13, 2017
I found a copy of this in my childhood bedroom at my parents house on a visit over the weekend. It had been purchased from McKay's Used Books and Media for $1.50. My all time favorite used bookstore, it is exceedingly odd that the price sticker was still on the cover. Over the years it has become a custom bordering on ritual to get home from McKay's and look through my newly acquired books, slowly peeling the price stickers off of each one. When I found the book their was a bookmark at the end of the ninth story of the fifteen in the collection. I started there. I do not recall when or if I read the first two thirds of the book, but I'm confident I did.
Ann Beattie is a wonderful writer. At the sentence level, she can describe things vividly with a simplicity that amazes me. Some people might read these stories and feel like not much happens, but that is at the core of what I love so much about them. Beattie's stories are all about aftermath. The dislocation, the divorce, car accident, death, birth, or other big life event has already occurred in these stories, and the quiet moments Beattie writes about finds characters trying (or not) to put the pieces back together and go on living, somehow.
I joked on twitter that these stories feel like Denis Johnson short stories before all of the characters started doing heroin. I'll stand by that joke, but both authors have written plenty of stuff that proves me wrong.
The late 1970s feel palpable in this collection of stories. Small details about lifestyles, the big houses in the country, rural New Hampshire and Vermont. A self-conscious nonchalance about drugs and drinking. Divorce and small children. A national hangover, it's piercing just by its reality, the authenticity of the settings.
Read this. Read Chilly Scenes of Winter. Read the New Yorker Stories too. Highly recommended.
Ann Beattie is a wonderful writer. At the sentence level, she can describe things vividly with a simplicity that amazes me. Some people might read these stories and feel like not much happens, but that is at the core of what I love so much about them. Beattie's stories are all about aftermath. The dislocation, the divorce, car accident, death, birth, or other big life event has already occurred in these stories, and the quiet moments Beattie writes about finds characters trying (or not) to put the pieces back together and go on living, somehow.
I joked on twitter that these stories feel like Denis Johnson short stories before all of the characters started doing heroin. I'll stand by that joke, but both authors have written plenty of stuff that proves me wrong.
The late 1970s feel palpable in this collection of stories. Small details about lifestyles, the big houses in the country, rural New Hampshire and Vermont. A self-conscious nonchalance about drugs and drinking. Divorce and small children. A national hangover, it's piercing just by its reality, the authenticity of the settings.
Read this. Read Chilly Scenes of Winter. Read the New Yorker Stories too. Highly recommended.
December 3, 2023
I bought and read my copy of Secrets & Surprises when it first came out in 1978 and until now probably haven't read it again. But upon looking at it now I realize the opening of the first story ("A Vintage Thunderbird") is as familiar to me as, say, the first sentences of One Hundred Years of Solitude or Pride and Prejudice. Which might be odd, as it seems fairly bland:
"Nick and Karen had driven from Virginia to New York in a little under six hours. They had made good time, keeping ahead of the rain all the way, and it was only now, while they were in the restaurant, that the rain began."
It's bland, but the storm that finally overtakes them is symbolic. In any event, this is the first of several bits I remember quite clearly, another being Nick's phone conversation with the guy they'd visited in Virginia.
Karen is attractive, financially well-off, the owner of a cool T-bird convertible, and complacent about the effect she has on men.
We're told Nick "had seen for a long time that it didn't matter to her how much she meant to him." Actually, she doesn't know or care that she's important to other guys as well. In turn, her indifference colors Nick's interactions with, for example, a coworker named Petra, who seems somewhat attracted to him
Nick otherwise tends to be a timid, wishy-washy sort of fellow, very much subject to the abuse his environment heaps upon him. (He's mugged twice in the story.)
The basic plotline is quite simple, but at points along the way there are vivid starbursts, random quirky observations, cameo appearances of strong personalities, and flashbacks to explain a relationship. Come to think of it, that's more or less the way I perceive life.
I remember thinking, the first time I read this collection, that Ann Beattie had come into her own. She'd been my writing teacher when her first two books were published, and of course I was awed to know a genuine author. I thought Distortions and Chilly Scenes of Winter were swell. And of course she has written a lot more since then, most of which I've read. But I think Secrets & Surprises might be Ann Beattie at her finest.
That said, after one has read the first few of these 15 stories there is no secret nor any surprise when the next one turns out to concern yet another couple in a lousy relationship.
In "Distant Music" the guy is obsessed with establishing a career as a songwriter and the woman has too much of her identity wrapped up in him. Their dog is a metaphor for the relationship and after they split the dog turns vicious.
In "La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans," Griffin and Louise are both very much living in the shadows of their respective fathers. She has warm childhood memories and simple love for her parents, but he wants to trash that, complaining that "Your loyalty is still with him." The significance of the Degas statue, which she admires in the National Gallery of Art, is that the young dancer is poised to take a step, whereas Griffin and Louise are incapable of doing anything.
"Colorado" is the first Ann Beattie story I ever read. She brought the galley proofs to class before it appeared in The New Yorker (and incidentally I just found my copy of the March 15, 1976 issue in which that story appeared). I remember my dad read it then and was not impressed. He saw only a disturbing situation involving losers making one bad decision after another. Penelope in that story is somewhat like Karen in having many unlucky suitors, and a question arose in class as to whether her name was meant to evoke the wife of Odysseus. (Ann insisted that was not her intent.) Anyway, I understand my father's assessment of the characters. Their bizarrely unrealistic schemes evoke in me a feeling of anxiety. On the other hand, Ann Beattie is great with the little details that make a scene real. I absolutely recognize aspects of the situations in almost all of these stories, so if the characters' schemes are unrealistic, the scenarios are not. Ann Beattie is saying here something about how educated young people were living in the 1970s (and, for all I know, how they're still living).
The latter stories in the collection are not specifically about relationships as much as they're about damaged people. "The Lawn Party" for example has as its main character a guy who lost his arm in a car accident but is also cutting himself off from his family. His problems can be traced back to having married one woman while being in love with her sister (who died in the accident and may even have crashed the car on purpose). However, what is not addressed, as far as I can tell, is the ultimate reason he or indeed any of Ann's characters here are so profoundly screwed up. Normal people would not get married if both knew the guy loved someone else.
"Friends" is a long story with a great many characters, more than can easily be kept in mind. I think a dozen are introduced in the first three pages. It opens with several of them gathered at the home of Francie, who's a painter of some talent but limited success. She says, "Sometimes when all of us are together we have good times." The pages that follow do not portray particularly good times, however. Perry secretly loves Francie but takes months to work up sufficient courage to tell her. The love is not reciprocated, at least partly because all she wants is recognition and fame. By the story's conclusion, we're told her goal could possibly be not so unrealistic. T.K., another member of the gang, might also be on track to success as a musician. However, the majority of the action here involves betrayals, jealousies, and complaining, amidst which the characters seem to take a car theft and a home invasion in stride. Despite their striving I don't think any of them are happy or even know what might make them happy.
Again, a lot of this is recognizable, at least to me. It's clearly drawn from life. However, as reviewers back in the day often pointed out, Ann Beattie tweaks the recognizable until it's in the realm of caricature. Maybe that's the attraction: These characters resemble us, or people we've known, but surely we weren't that crazy. Were we? Ultimately, people have to find their way out of those situations. Life lived that way on a continuing basis would be pointless. And sad.
Several years ago Kirkus Reviews said the characters in these stories "possess an odd bleak courage as they take baby steps in a world that promises but cannot deliver." Odd bleak courage is close enough, but what they also need is sufficient judgment to balance out their impulses and neuroses. I mean, this world is not going to deliver good things in response to continuing choices that are demonstrably wrong. Modern Western society is secure enough that someone can make a lot of mistakes and probably come out okay in the end. In earlier centuries the environment was maybe not so forgiving. I think if these characters used any judgment at all, especially in 1978, their world could have been less disappointing.
"Nick and Karen had driven from Virginia to New York in a little under six hours. They had made good time, keeping ahead of the rain all the way, and it was only now, while they were in the restaurant, that the rain began."
It's bland, but the storm that finally overtakes them is symbolic. In any event, this is the first of several bits I remember quite clearly, another being Nick's phone conversation with the guy they'd visited in Virginia.
Karen is attractive, financially well-off, the owner of a cool T-bird convertible, and complacent about the effect she has on men.
We're told Nick "had seen for a long time that it didn't matter to her how much she meant to him." Actually, she doesn't know or care that she's important to other guys as well. In turn, her indifference colors Nick's interactions with, for example, a coworker named Petra, who seems somewhat attracted to him
Nick otherwise tends to be a timid, wishy-washy sort of fellow, very much subject to the abuse his environment heaps upon him. (He's mugged twice in the story.)
The basic plotline is quite simple, but at points along the way there are vivid starbursts, random quirky observations, cameo appearances of strong personalities, and flashbacks to explain a relationship. Come to think of it, that's more or less the way I perceive life.
I remember thinking, the first time I read this collection, that Ann Beattie had come into her own. She'd been my writing teacher when her first two books were published, and of course I was awed to know a genuine author. I thought Distortions and Chilly Scenes of Winter were swell. And of course she has written a lot more since then, most of which I've read. But I think Secrets & Surprises might be Ann Beattie at her finest.
That said, after one has read the first few of these 15 stories there is no secret nor any surprise when the next one turns out to concern yet another couple in a lousy relationship.
In "Distant Music" the guy is obsessed with establishing a career as a songwriter and the woman has too much of her identity wrapped up in him. Their dog is a metaphor for the relationship and after they split the dog turns vicious.
In "La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans," Griffin and Louise are both very much living in the shadows of their respective fathers. She has warm childhood memories and simple love for her parents, but he wants to trash that, complaining that "Your loyalty is still with him." The significance of the Degas statue, which she admires in the National Gallery of Art, is that the young dancer is poised to take a step, whereas Griffin and Louise are incapable of doing anything.
"Colorado" is the first Ann Beattie story I ever read. She brought the galley proofs to class before it appeared in The New Yorker (and incidentally I just found my copy of the March 15, 1976 issue in which that story appeared). I remember my dad read it then and was not impressed. He saw only a disturbing situation involving losers making one bad decision after another. Penelope in that story is somewhat like Karen in having many unlucky suitors, and a question arose in class as to whether her name was meant to evoke the wife of Odysseus. (Ann insisted that was not her intent.) Anyway, I understand my father's assessment of the characters. Their bizarrely unrealistic schemes evoke in me a feeling of anxiety. On the other hand, Ann Beattie is great with the little details that make a scene real. I absolutely recognize aspects of the situations in almost all of these stories, so if the characters' schemes are unrealistic, the scenarios are not. Ann Beattie is saying here something about how educated young people were living in the 1970s (and, for all I know, how they're still living).
The latter stories in the collection are not specifically about relationships as much as they're about damaged people. "The Lawn Party" for example has as its main character a guy who lost his arm in a car accident but is also cutting himself off from his family. His problems can be traced back to having married one woman while being in love with her sister (who died in the accident and may even have crashed the car on purpose). However, what is not addressed, as far as I can tell, is the ultimate reason he or indeed any of Ann's characters here are so profoundly screwed up. Normal people would not get married if both knew the guy loved someone else.
"Friends" is a long story with a great many characters, more than can easily be kept in mind. I think a dozen are introduced in the first three pages. It opens with several of them gathered at the home of Francie, who's a painter of some talent but limited success. She says, "Sometimes when all of us are together we have good times." The pages that follow do not portray particularly good times, however. Perry secretly loves Francie but takes months to work up sufficient courage to tell her. The love is not reciprocated, at least partly because all she wants is recognition and fame. By the story's conclusion, we're told her goal could possibly be not so unrealistic. T.K., another member of the gang, might also be on track to success as a musician. However, the majority of the action here involves betrayals, jealousies, and complaining, amidst which the characters seem to take a car theft and a home invasion in stride. Despite their striving I don't think any of them are happy or even know what might make them happy.
Again, a lot of this is recognizable, at least to me. It's clearly drawn from life. However, as reviewers back in the day often pointed out, Ann Beattie tweaks the recognizable until it's in the realm of caricature. Maybe that's the attraction: These characters resemble us, or people we've known, but surely we weren't that crazy. Were we? Ultimately, people have to find their way out of those situations. Life lived that way on a continuing basis would be pointless. And sad.
Several years ago Kirkus Reviews said the characters in these stories "possess an odd bleak courage as they take baby steps in a world that promises but cannot deliver." Odd bleak courage is close enough, but what they also need is sufficient judgment to balance out their impulses and neuroses. I mean, this world is not going to deliver good things in response to continuing choices that are demonstrably wrong. Modern Western society is secure enough that someone can make a lot of mistakes and probably come out okay in the end. In earlier centuries the environment was maybe not so forgiving. I think if these characters used any judgment at all, especially in 1978, their world could have been less disappointing.
June 10, 2020
one of my fav short story collections ever, don't read this book if you recently have been cheated on or have cheated on someone, it's also hilarious to me that white kids have been moving to NYC post college graduation since the dawn of time
June 28, 2010
Can't believe I never read this before as she is one of my faves. Though the stories are 30+ years old, they all feel shockingly relevant to today.
April 9, 2012
Probably the most perfect collection of stories I can think of. "Distant Music" should, if you're a decent person, make you cry.
November 26, 2017
Before I really started reading short stories, I used to love Ann Beattie's. But I never want to revisit them. They are very specific to an era.
November 7, 2019
kind of bananas
August 16, 2020
Probably my favorite Beattie collection. Highlights include: “A Reasonable Man,” “Shifting,” “La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans,” “Octascope,” “Weekend,” “A Clever-Kids Story,” and the title story.
October 5, 2023
i love her <3
November 12, 2024
2.5 stars. There’s no point to any of the stories, the characters in each story are variations of those in other stories, nothing happens, there’s no real ending…
April 4, 2026
Too depressing. The characters all seem too mean, too heartless. I did read nearly half of the book, but I just could not enjoy it.
February 23, 2019
I found an old copy of this and hadn't read any Beattie in a long time. These stories weren't as rich to me as the ones in Park City. These are great. Park City is exceptional though. My favorite story in here is "Friends." It is long, and plain, and tense, and wonderful. I'm glad I found this book, but now I have to unearth my copy of Park City and revisit some of those characters that still stick with me.
October 17, 2007
They say Raymond Carver was the master of the 'minimalist' short story. I love Carver's work---but I believe Beattie gives him a run for his money in regards to the title of "master".
This is classic, in the best sense of the term---and also illustrates why 'minimalist' stories are anything but spare in terms of characterization, plot and theme.
This is classic, in the best sense of the term---and also illustrates why 'minimalist' stories are anything but spare in terms of characterization, plot and theme.
March 5, 2008
Beattie perfected that flat, New-Yorker style of writing - which can sometimes be an annoying cliche - but her best stories are poignant snapshots of non-communication and crisis, and a number of them are here.
March 15, 2012
Boring and pointless. Not really short stories, just depressing vignettes mostly. Blech!
January 7, 2014
what a great collection of short stories. Beattie's writing is similar to that of Updike's but her characters aren't as petty.
September 12, 2016
The stories are about boring characters. I couldn't really feel any of them. They seem to always be white people with pointless existences.
November 17, 2017
I LIKE LEOPARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews