A Different Plain: Contemporary Nebraska Fiction Writers by Ladette Randolph


A Different Plain: Contemporary Nebraska Fiction Writers
Title : A Different Plain: Contemporary Nebraska Fiction Writers
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0803290020
ISBN-10 : 9780803290020
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 398
Publication : First published September 1, 2004
Awards : Nebraska Book Award Anthology (2005)

O Pioneers! was oh so long ago, and yet Willa Cather's masterpiece has proven to be an enduring template for readers' notions of Nebraska writing. The short stories collected here, so richly various in style, theme, and subject matter, should put an end to any such plain thinking about writing from this anything-but-plain state. Nebraska writers all, the authors explore the Midwest, a vastness of small towns, corn, cattle, football, and family businesses. They also venture far afield, to desolate western lives, crowded urban relationships, poignant couplings, comic families, and the worldly idiosyncrasies of characters everywhere. Whether about aging or coming-of-age, leave-taking or coming home, falling apart or finding love, these stories represent contemporary fiction at its best, from the high style of Richard Dooling's "Immortal Man" to Kent Haruf's soft-spoken "Dancing," from Ron Hansen's "My Communist" to Jonis Agee's earthy, offbeat "Binding the Devil." Original, spirited, and surprising, these contemporary writings depict a modern world on the move and extend the tradition of great fiction from Nebraska into the twenty-first century.

A Different Plain: Contemporary Nebraska Fiction Writers Reviews

  • Ron

    This collection is something of a mixed bag, it's title being somewhat misleading. Here, a "contemporary Nebraska fiction writer" is just about any writer who has spent some time in Nebraska, either as a creative writing student or as a member of a creative writing faculty. Unlike Cather and Sandoz, whose work represents an intimate firsthand knowledge of living on the plains, these writers have been shaped more by an academic landscape, which has no particular geographic boundaries (perhaps that's the "different plain" of the book's title). Fewer than half of the writers are native to Nebraska, and only a few stories are set there.

    Setting these matters aside, a reader will find selections from some fine, recognized writers, among them Dan Chaon, Tom McNeal, Jonis Agee, Kent Haruf, and Ron Hansen. The best story in the bunch is the opener, Chaon's "I Demand to Know Where You're Taking Me," a young woman's introduction to her creepy brothers-in-law. Ron Hansen's "My Communist" tells a wryly amusing and bittersweet story of two Polish expats in California. Rick Barba's "Guys" traces the career frustrations and gender-related laments of a freelance video producer.

    An excerpt from Jody Shield's "The Fig Eater" reveals a meticulously researched police procedural set in Vienna, 1910. Meghan Daum's "Alternative Lifestyle Alert" is a fictionalized account of the author's decision to leave cutthroat, yuppie New York for a new life in Nebraska. Gerald Shapiro's "Bad Jews" is as outrageously hilarious as an episode of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Also, there's the grimly humorous father-son story, "The New Year," from John McNally's terrific collection, "Troublemakers." Altogether the 25 stories in this collection offer a wide range of talent and subject matter. And there's ample evidence that Willa Cather would approve.

  • Tanja

    I wouldn’t have come across this gem if it hadn’t been for the Nebraska 150 Reading Challenge. This book features short stories of authors who are from or have been living in Nebraska and some of the stories even play in Nebraska. While I had heard some of the author’s names before, others were utterly unknown. The stories I liked best were “Crete” by Marly Swick which is about a husband who secretly follows his wife to the small Nebraska town she grew up in, “Excerpt from the Fig Eater” by Jody Shields which describes police procedure upon finding a female corpse in early 20th century Vienna, Austria and “Diary of an Immortal Man” by Richard Dooling, detailing a middle aged man’s humorous quest for immortality.

  • Daphne Eck

    brooke gave me this book of fiction by nebraska writers. it's great.