About this title: This is a first collection of short stories by a former stripper and panhandler who has previously won several prizes for short fiction. These strange and poignant stories of seedy New York life are concerned with social isolation and sexual depravity.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1989-05-14
ISBN-13:9780679723271ISBN:0679723277
Description: Very Good. Binding is tight and square. Text is clean and bright. We recommend PRIORITY MAIL for even faster delivery! Careful packaging and fast shipping. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Poseidon Press; (1988), NY
Description: First printing of the author's first book, a story collection, fine in a near fine dust jacket. The jacket has some minor edgewear and a touch of soiling. read more
Edition: First Uk Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: 0, London
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780340502891ISBN:0340502894
Description: Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. 8vo. First U.K. Edition. Hardcover in dust jacket. The book is clean, tight and square with light age toning to the text block. The dust jacket is not price clipped and is still bright and unfaded with only a very light bit of shelf wear along the edges. Book price includes a new mylar dust jacket cover. read more
Description: Gaitskill, Mary., Poseidon Press, nd (1988), c1988, 1st Edition, boards & cloth, faint label removal mark on ffep, remainder mark(s) on bottome edge o/w fine w/dj, 203 pp, 8vo, '...a brilliant and unusual collection of short stories about love and moder. read more
Edition: First Edition ~1st Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Poseidon Press, New York
Date Published: 1988
Description: Author's acclaimed debut, a collection of short stories; near fine in very good dust jacket, in fresh mylar cover; minor soiling and edge-cracking to jacket else a tight square unmarked copy in unclipped dust jacket. read more
Description: Very Good. 0671658719 FIRST EDITION /FIRST PRINTING Gently Used Hardcover ~ minor shelf-wear, otherwise Neat & Tight Binding ~ all books carefully examined & well packaged. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover (Original Cloth)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780671658717ISBN:0671658719
Description: Very Good Condition in Good jacket. Size: Octavo (standard book size). Text body is clean, and free from previous owner annotation, underlining and highlighting. Binding is tight, covers and spine fully intact. No foxing in this copy. Dust Jacket worn at edges, small chips and tears. Dust Jacket un-clipped. Edges browned slightly. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilogram. Category: Fiction Classic & Modern ISBN: 0671658719 Inventory No: 16970. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, London
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780340502891ISBN:0340502894
Description: First edition. Unread copy in Fine condition in a Fine dustjacket with a Durafold mylar cover. Gaitskill's first book. Actual image of the book; not a stock photo. read more
Edition: First edition. Advanced Reading Copy.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Poseidon Press
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780671658717ISBN:0671658719
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. 1988 paperback uncorrected proof in white wraps with red lettering. Slight curling, a few tiny stains on bottom edge, else fine. Glued binding. Paper over boards. 208 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Poseidon Pr, Old Tappan, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780671658717ISBN:0671658719
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. First printing. Edge tear. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Poseidon Press (Simon & Schuster)
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780671658717ISBN:0671658719
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. 208 p. Audience: General/trade. 1st printing of the 1st edition; fine in fine dust jacket; neither price-cut or remainder marked. REVIEW COPY w. 4 separate inserts: publisher's card (blue on white) requesting "observance of the release date and two copies of your review"; flyer-approx. 6"x8" (slightly wider than book) w. dj image on one side & printed blurbs from Alice Munro, Leonard Michaels & others on the reverse along w. publicists ... read more
Edition: First
Binding: hardcover
Publisher: Poseidon Press, New York
Date Published: (1988)
ISBN-13:9780671658717ISBN:0671658719
Description: First edition. Fine in near fine dustwrapper that is a trifle worn. Warmly Inscribed to fellow author Nicholas Delbanco. A collection of stories, one the basis for the 2002 film Secretary starring James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal. read more
"The first Mary Gaitskill stories--including the famous 'Secretary' of the James Saper infamous movie of same name--and in many ways, her very bets writing. IMHO, Gaitskill has few rivals in modern American short story writing. Not only is she fearless (even ruthless) in her examination of life, human nature and existence itself, but her mastery of the form, her choice of words, her collection of sentences, is simply stunning.
Years ago, I was lucky enough to have her as a visiting professor in college. It was a 3-month advanced fiction writing workshop in which she did very little indeed (she is as strange in person as her voice appears in her writing) but the little she DID do, was extraordinary. Afterwards, we all remembered the things she had pointed out, the whys and what-ifs, the tiny red marks on our papers that in the end, meant everything"
"I have to say that I am shocked to have enjoyed this collection as much as I did. Because I have read Gaitskill's other works, often twice, I did not expect as much from her older work. This book, however, had a certain raw honesty that grabs a reader by the neck and shakes gently, teasingly, and never squeezes too hard. Broaching the, urm, unpleasantness of prostitution and aimless sexual relationships, Gaitskill drops the small realizations felt by characters who are drowning in the muck, but still gasping for air; still fighting toward land they might no longer see. I love it."
"Ok, I was very disappointed by this book. I LOVE the movie Secretary, and in my experience the book is always better than the movie, so I figured I'd really love the short story the movie was based on. I did not. I think this is the first time that I found the movie to be far better than the book or story it was based on.
I found her to be well written, but I just didn't get into any of the stories (although Heaven was ok). I didn't understand any of her characters, they seemed so blah to me, so bleak and depressing.
I also got this book cause I heard it was a great S and M book, I got none of that out of it either.
Maybe it's just me, but I didn't like the book at all."
"I'd only read "A Romantic Weekend" before this collection, which disturbed me and which I still feel is a straight-up horror story. I was expecting Mary Gaitskill's writing to smack of that experienced-but-not-very-self-aware vibe one sometimes gets from girls who feel smug because they've "lived on the edge" or whatever, e.g. "Oh, I've SEEN some things. I've been to DARK places". Gaitskill's clearly too smart for that, though: her stories never hint at judgment in one direction or another, neither for the characters who dwell sort of on the fringe nor for those who perhaps make "safer" choices... And in fact it's not as much edgy eroticism as I'd expected, never trying to shock... there's almost more about twentysomething shiftlessness and the burgeoning nervous awareness of that. I like this one part from the story "Connection" very much:
"Her life in New York had been erratic and unconnected. She had lived hand to mouth most of the time, working a series of menial jobs that made her feel isolated and unseen, yet strangely safe."
It's relatable, and not in an aggressively feminist "sex positive" agenda sort of way, which I'd feared. Her characters are human beings capable of tenderness as well as frightening self-absorption, even when relentlessly seeking out their own fulfillment and pleasure."
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