Editorial Content for American Estrangement: Stories
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
People read in different ways. Some start one book, read it straight through to the end, and then move on to another title. Others keep several books juggling in the air simultaneously, which is my general pattern as I read both for pleasure and professionally. Normally my selection of books includes one short story collection for those moments when I would like to change the trajectory of my reading and take a break from the history, fiction and biography that generally occupy my time. These volumes can be written by tried-and-true authors whose works are familiar to me, or they can be writers who I am reading for the first time.
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh falls into the latter category. The seven stories in his collection, AMERICAN ESTRANGEMENT, are linked by a vision of American life that is thoughtful and thought-provoking. In each piece, he presents readers with a captivating opening sentence that sets the stage for what’s to come.
"These are significant stories written in powerful prose. A short story collection is a wonderful way to introduce yourself to a new writer, and AMERICAN ESTRANGEMENT is the perfect opportunity to do just that."
Some take place in an unfamiliar location, a dystopian America of the near future. “Scenic Route” begins like this: “It’s around six months or so after society has begun changing, mainly for the worse, when Lizzy and I decide to take that trip we’ve been talking about for so long, and which, only in hindsight, is probably our biggest mistake….” The country in which the couple is traveling may be America, but it is not our America as the state borders are no longer open and travelers require papers to go from state to state. “Scenic Route” is a disturbing view of where the U.S. may be headed.
“Fairground” is another dispiriting look at a future society. The narrator tells us, “I’ve only been to one hanging in my life and that was when I was six or seven years old, or maybe I was eight, but who can remember that far back with complete accuracy?” This story about a hanging is described in vivid detail as though it were a college football game or other sporting event. He is taken there by Mr. Montgomery, his current stepfather, a man of many faults who ultimately will disappear from his mother’s life. Personal and political estrangement are twin themes of these tales.
The remaining stories are more contemporary, featuring individuals shaped by political, economic and class forces that often impact our lives without us recognizing their existence. Sayrafiezadeh is writing from a personal position as his characters in many ways reflect his own life. He was born in Brooklyn and raised in Pittsburgh, the son of an Iranian father and an American Jewish mother. Reading his biography, I learned that he is also the nephew of Mark Harris, the author of the Henry Wiggen novels, some of the finest baseball fiction ever written.
“A Beginner’s Guide to Estrangement” is the concluding story. Danush Jamshid returns to Iran to visit his father who he has not seen in 15 years, but he only has been allowed five days to reconnect with him. As Sayrafiezadeh describes Iran, his point is clear: Just as father and son have a brief opportunity to rebuild their relationship, Iran and America find their time dwindling to avoid a costly and destructive war.
These are significant stories written in powerful prose. A short story collection is a wonderful way to introduce yourself to a new writer, and AMERICAN ESTRANGEMENT is the perfect opportunity to do just that.
Teaser
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh has been hailed by Philip Gourevitch as "a masterful storyteller working from deep in the American grain." His new collection of stories --- some of which have appeared in The New Yorker, the Paris Review and The Best American Short Stories --- is set in a contemporary America full of the kind of emotionally bruised characters familiar to readers of Denis Johnson and George Saunders. These are people contending with internal struggles --- a son’s fractured relationship with his father, the death of a mother, the loss of a job, drug addiction --- even as they are battered by larger, often invisible, economic, political and racial forces of American society.
Promo
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh has been hailed by Philip Gourevitch as "a masterful storyteller working from deep in the American grain." His new collection of stories --- some of which have appeared in The New Yorker, the Paris Review and The Best American Short Stories --- is set in a contemporary America full of the kind of emotionally bruised characters familiar to readers of Denis Johnson and George Saunders. These are people contending with internal struggles --- a son’s fractured relationship with his father, the death of a mother, the loss of a job, drug addiction --- even as they are battered by larger, often invisible, economic, political and racial forces of American society.
About the Book
Stories that capture our times by “a young author who has already established himself as a unique American voice” (Elle).
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh has been hailed by Philip Gourevitch as "a masterful storyteller working from deep in the American grain." His new collection of stories --- some of which have appeared in The New Yorker, the Paris Review and the Best American Short Stories --- is set in a contemporary America full of the kind of emotionally bruised characters familiar to readers of Denis Johnson and George Saunders. These are people contending with internal struggles --- a son’s fractured relationship with his father, the death of a mother, the loss of a job, drug addiction --- even as they are battered by larger, often invisible, economic, political and racial forces of American society.
Searing, intimate, often slyly funny, and always marked by a deep imaginative sympathy, AMERICAN ESTRANGEMENT is a testament to our addled times. It will cement Sayrafiezadeh’s reputation as one of the essential 21st-century American writers.
Audiobook available; read by David Bendena, Pete Cross, Mark Owen, Qarie Marshall, Stephen Prechtl and Lynch Travis
