Perishables

by Tina Egnoski

A short but comprehensive catalogue of what is easily obliterated and, of those things, what must be protected.

40 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2010

About the author

Tina Egnoski is the author of the novel Burn Down This World and the short fiction collection You Can Tell Me Anything. She received the 2010 Clay Reynolds Prize for her novella In the Time of the Feast of Flowers. She's also published two chapbooks: This Invisible Beauty and Perishables. She studied English at the University of Florida and later received her MFA from Emerson College. Her work, both fiction and poetry, has appeared in a number of literary journals, including, Cimarron Review, Flying South Magazine, The Masters Review, and Saw Palm Journal. She has received literature fellowships from the Colorado Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. From 2016 to 2019, she was the director of the Ocean State Writing Conference. Currently, she works in the Liberal Arts Division of the Rhode Island School of Design. Along with writing, she's a papermaker and bookbinder.

Reviews

[Black Lawrence Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

In these four stories, Tina Egnoski’s characters struggle with sibling rivalry, race, grief, and poverty while remaining decidedly rooted in the Southern landscape, particularly Florida, where the author grew up. The atmosphere tends to be sultry. The terrain is as varied as the breezy coast of the Gulf and the stifling heat of a fruit grove. Smell the stench of a brackish river; feel your pores tighten in the salty air.

Praise
“Tina Egnoski takes significant risks with her stories, which pay off in significant rewards for the reader. She melds historical characters and events, delves deep into the most difficult emotions, and shows the pain inherent in daring to love. This is distinctive and memorable work by an exciting new author, from whom we will no doubt be hearing more in the future.”
—Jessica Treadway, author of Please Come Back To Me, Winner of the 2009 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction

“These stories feature an impressive variety of voices, from the mournful reflections of a young mother whose infant has died, to a 5th grader’s naïve reports of racial conflict in a Florida town. Spare yet evocative imagery abounds—as when the fire imagined by a young girl conveys both her rage and the infuriating sexual power of her older sister. Surprising, moving, and funny by turns, these skillfully told stories explore the perishability of what we feel, know, and love.”
—Tracy McCabe, Department of English, Lake Forest College

About the Author
Tina Egnoski is a fiction writer and poet. Her work has been published in a number of literary journals, including Backwards City Review, Cimarron Review, Folio, Hawaii Pacific Review and Louisville Review. She earned an MFA from Emerson College and has received literature fellowships from the Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. A native of Florida, she currently lives in Rhode Island with her husband and son.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm most pleased with a story collection when it doesn't feel like something I've read before. There are tons of stories out there that, despite their greatness, still seem to rehash one of several go-to plots. In this fiction chap book, Tina Egnoski discovers stories in new places and then renders them with confidence. We meet vagabond fruit pickers in Florida and a girl whose jealousy of her sister seems to literally manifest itself in flames. Even in the other two stories, which tackle subjects that are more familiar, the characters feel like such individuals that I was never reduced to comparing them to other, similar stories. This is an impressive collection that shows imagination and a mastery craft and I look forward to reading more of Egnoski's work.

[James Grinwis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found these short shorts to be exceptional. Included is one of the most moving stories about the loss of a child I've encountered.

[Monica Restrepo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very emotional and deep. It touches you in many different ways. A must read.