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Short Stories
by R.L. Maizes
In this quirky, humorous, and deeply human short story collection, Pushcart Prize-nominated author R.L. Maizes reminds us that even in our most isolated moments, we are never truly alone.
In We Love Anderson Cooper, characters are treated as outsiders because of their sexual orientation, racial or religious identity, or simply because they look different. A young man courts the publicity that comes from outing himself at his bar mitzvah. When a painter is shunned because of his appearance, he learns to ink tattoos that come to life. A paranoid Jewish actuary suspects his cat of cheating on him―with his Protestant girlfriend.
In this debut collection, humor complements pathos. Readers will recognize themselves in these stories and in these protagonists, whose backgrounds are vastly different from their own―we've all been outsiders at some point.
"Each succinct fictional nugget rolls inexorably along its own quirky trajectory, arrives at its own unexpected destination, and never overstays its welcome ... this is a book about the heart. Breaking news: Maizes' gently witty and vaguely weird collection is well worth reading." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Maizes's direct manner of storytelling and her imperfect yet unmistakably human characters are sure to win over readers." - Publishers Weekly
"Told with humor and wisdom, these charming stories burst with possibility: At any moment, a character might risk all, or the world might tilt on its axis. Here is a wildly entertaining new voice, one to revel in." - Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers
"I can't remember the last time I read an entire book with a smile on my face. But from R.L. Maizes's title, We Love Anderson Cooper, until the last story here, I grinned. These stories are funny, yes. But they are also so big hearted and honest that I wanted to thrust them into everyone's hands and make them read this book so we would all be grinning together as we recognized that these oddball characters are really exactly like us." - Ann Hood, Author of The Knitting Circle and The Book That Matters Most
"A unique angle of vision―devastating and funny. In her stories, R.L. Maizes probes the fusion of alienation and yearning, the persistence of attachment to animals and to people." - Ursula Hegi, Author of Stones from the River (Book #1 of the Burgdorf Cycle Series)
"I found myself dazzled, moved, and lost in admiration for these unforgettable stories, each one a gem. Where do I sign up for the R.L. Maizes school of brilliantly depicting off-kilter love and loss with unfailing wit and empathy?" - Elinor Lipman, author of Good Riddance and On Turpentine Lane
"The title story in We Love Anderson Cooper will break your heart in all the best ways and it will also make you laugh; such is the blueprint for all that is ahead in this stunning collection. R.L. Maizes has such a gift for taking us where we've never been, yet reminding us of what we know about love, grief, a place of belonging." - Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life
This information about We Love Anderson Cooper was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
R.L. Maizes was born and raised in Queens, New York, and now lives in Boulder, Colorado. Maizes's short stories have aired on National Public Radio and have appeared in the literary magazines Electric Literature, Witness, Bellevue Literary Review, Slice, and Blackbird, among others. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Lilith, and elsewhere.
Maizes is an alumna of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the Tin House Summer Writer's Workshop. Her work has received Honorable Mention in Glimmer Train's Fiction Open contest, has been a finalist in numerous other national contests, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. We Love Anderson Cooper: Short Stories is her first book.
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