Skip to main content

About the Book

About the Book

Maggie Brown & Others: Stories

In this powerful and virtuosic collection of interlocking stories, each one "a marvel of concision and compassion" (Washington Post), a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist and "master of his form" (New York Times) takes the short story to new heights.

Through 44 compressed gems, Peter Orner, a writer who "doesn't simply bring his characters to life, he gives them souls" (NYT Book Review), chronicles people whose lives are at inflection points, gripping us with a series of defining moments.

Whether it's a first date that turns into a late-night road trip to a séance in an abandoned airplane hangar, or a family's memories of the painful mystery surrounding a neglected uncle's demise, Orner reveals how our fleeting decisions between kindness and abandonment chase us across time. These stories are anchored by a poignant novella that delivers not only the joys and travails of a 40-year marriage, but an entire era in a working-class New England city.

Bristling with the crackling energy of life itself, MAGGIE BROWN & OTHERS marks the most sustained achievement to date for "a master of his form" (New York Times).

Maggie Brown & Others: Stories
by Peter Orner

  • Publication Date: July 28, 2020
  • Genres: Fiction, Short Stories
  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Back Bay Books
  • ISBN-10: 0316516120
  • ISBN-13: 9780316516129