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    Property: Stories Between Two Novellas
    Property: Stories Between Two Novellas
    Property: Stories Between Two Novellas
    Audiobook14 hours

    Property: Stories Between Two Novellas

    Written by Lionel Shriver

    Narrated by Lionel Shriver

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A striking new collection of ten short stories and two novellas that explores the idea of property in every meaning of the word, from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award finalist So Much for That and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin.

    Intermingling settings in America and Britain, Lionel Shriver’s first collection explores property in both senses of the word: real estate and stuff. These pieces illustrate how our possessions act as proxies for ourselves, and how tussles over ownership articulate the power dynamics of our relationships. In Lionel Shriver’s world, we may possess people and objects and places, but in turn they possess us.

    In the stunning novella ""The Standing Chandelier,"" a woman with a history of attracting other women’s antagonism creates a deeply personal wedding present for her best friend and his fiancée—only to discover that the jealous fiancée wants to cut her out of their lives. In ""Domestic Terrorism,"" a thirty-something son refuses to leave home, resulting in a standoff that renders him a millennial cause célèbre. In ""The ChapStick,"" a middle-aged man subjugated by service to his elderly father discovers that the last place you should finally assert yourself is airport security. In ""Vermin,"" an artistic Brooklyn couple’s purchase of a ramshackle house destroys their once-passionate relationship. In ""The Subletter,"" two women, both foreign conflict junkies, fight over a claim to a territory that doesn’t belong to either.

    Exhibiting a satisfying thematic unity unusual for a collection, this masterful work showcases the biting insight that has made Shriver one of the most acclaimed writers of our time.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateApr 24, 2018
    ISBN9780062799289
    Property: Stories Between Two Novellas
    Author

    Lionel Shriver

    Although Lionel Shriver has published many novels, a collection of essays, and a column in the Spectator since 2017, and her journalism has been featured in publications including the Guardian, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, she in no way wishes for the inclusion of this information to imply that she is more “intelligent” or “accomplished” than anyone else. The outdated meritocracy of intellectual achievement has made her a bestselling author multiple times and accorded her awards, including the Orange Prize, but she accepts that all of these accidental accolades are basically meaningless. She lives in Portugal and Brooklyn, New York.

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    Reviews for Property

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    • 5/5
      I just love almost everything she writes. I like the way you can feel like you’re inside the characters head, and I find the language intelligent and witty
    • 4/5
      Bookended by two novellas, Property was a fairly tenuous link between all the stories, but as ever Shriver's writing was tight, wry and smart. Nothing escapes her notice as a writer, and with this collection she stays up there in my list of favourite writers.My only disappointment was that the first novella is The Standing Chandelier, which I read as a standalone novel for my RLBC a few months ago. I hate doing rereads as time's too short, but I also hate partially reading books so I read it again despite myself and enjoyed it all over again. The final novella was surprisingly based in Belfast (although I don't know why I was surprised as Shriver lived there for 12 years back in the Nineties), and as well as being an enjoyable (but slightly stressful) account of an unexpected flat share with a difficult flatmate, it was an interesting portrayal of Belfast seen through an outsider's eyes, an American who, like Shriver, had been living there for a decade. I'm not sure the Northern Ireland Tourist Board will be quoting from this novella in its advertising any time soon, but I think Shriver captured the city and its people pretty well, warts and all (and she certainly doesn't hold back on the criticism). She also doesn't shy away from looking her fellow Americans straight in the eye, calling out American sympathy for the IRA and Nationalism (the novella is set just after the Good Friday Agreement). I was curious about this, so I read up on a few interesting pieces online in which she talks about how her eyes were very much opened by her time in Belfast, changing her home politics away from liberalism as she was angry that murderers were being viewed through rose-tinted glasses.Anyway, this is simply a review and not a political manifesto. The stories in between these two novellas were also very clever and amusing - I may be warming to the short story genre after all. 4 stars - dropping half a star for cheating me with a repeat of that separately published novella, but I remain in the Shriver fandom.
    • 4/5
      I like Lionel Shrivers writing a lot. Especially because she is typically making a point with everything she writes. In this collection of stories, the points are diverse and strong. Also typically, I do not agree with her libertarian point, but I find it refreshing to read the argument in a literary way. Libertarians making their point in a straight-forward argumentative article typically bore me. Of course, making a political point in fiction is a bit of a cheap trick, because you can make your characters behave stupid or illogical as you wish. But if the psychology of the story is good and the message not too thickly spread on top, it can be really powerful.Most of these stories really made me think, some of them actually changed my opinion, be it a little bit.
    • 5/5
      I just discovered Lionel Shriver a year ago and this is my 4th book by her and the first that is short stories and novellas. She is a great writer. Her prose is intricate and full of great metaphors etc. In fact her descriptions are so good and consistent that you sometimes wish for more simplicity. She reaches to very subtle depths and is consistently in the head of her characters. The stories surround how property and all of its implications impact us. In most cases her stories involve the main character and some adversary. Her characters are constantly analyzing, plotting, thinking, overthinking and just being complex humans. Shriver who is a libertarian is not bashful with her opinions about being PC correct, entitled young people, and stingy parents etc. Her books are long but well worth it. I do plan to eventually read all of her books. She has climbed into my list of favorite authors. A must read
    • 3/5
      After the excellent opening "The Standing Chandelier", I began to find these a little hit and miss ("Domestic Terrorism" being a particularly big miss). I gave up at page 132.