Freeman's: Family: The Best New Writing on Family (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780802125262)

Freeman's: Family is the second literary anthology in the series reviewers are calling "bold" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) and "refreshing" (Chicago Literati). Following a debut issue on the theme of "Arrival," Freeman circles a new topic whose definition is constantly challenged by the best of our writers: family.

In an essay called Crossroads, Aminatta Forna muses on the legacy of slavery as she settles her family in Washington, DC, where she is constantly accused of cutting in line whenever she stands next to her white husband. Families are hardly stable entities, so many writers discover. Award-winning novelist Claire Vaye Watkins delivers a stunning portrait of a woman in the throes of postpartum depression. Booker Prize winner Marlon James takes the focus off absent fathers to write about his mother, who calls to sing him happy birthday every year. Even in the darkest moments, humor abounds. In Claire Messud's home there are two four-legged tyrants; Sandra Cisneros writes about her extended family of past lovers; and Aleksandar Hemon tells the story of his uncle's return from the Soviet gulag.

With outstanding work from literary heavyweights and up-and-coming writers alike, Freeman's: Family collects the most amusing, heartbreaking, and probing stories about family life today.

Author: John Freeman
ISBN-10: 0802125263
ISBN-13: 9780802125262
Publisher: Grove Press
Language: English
Published: 08/02/2016
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 06/01/2016