A Guide to Being Born by Ramona Ausubel
Reminiscent of Aimee Bender and Karen Russell, from the author of the new collection, Awayland--an enthralling book of stories that uses the world of the imagination to explore the heart of the human condition.
Major literary talent Ramona Ausubel, author of Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty, combines the otherworldly wisdom of her much-loved debut novel, No One Is Here Except All of Us, with the precision of the short-story form. A Guide to Being Born is organized around the stages of life--love, conception, gestation, birth--and the transformations that happen as people experience deeply altering life events, falling in love, becoming parents, looking toward the end of life. In each of these eleven stories Ausubel's stunning imagination and humor are moving, entertaining, and provocative, leading readers to see the familiar world in a new way.
Eleven Stories of Love and Transformation
In "Atria" a pregnant teenager believes she will give birth to any number of strange animals rather than a human baby; in "Catch and Release" a girl discovers the ghost of a Civil War hero living in the woods behind her house; and in "Tributaries" people grow a new arm each time they fall in love. Funny, surprising, and delightfully strange--all the stories have a strong emotional core; Ausubel's primary concern is always love, in all its manifestations.
Recognition and Accolades
Ramona Ausubel has been longlisted for The Frank O'Connor Short Story Prize, and a finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions award and the Pushcart Prize. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, One Story, The Paris Review Daily, Best American Fantasy, and elsewhere, and has received special mentions in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Nonrequired Reading.
Perfect For
This collection makes an ideal book club selection, baby shower gift, or Mother's Day present for readers who appreciate contemporary fiction with magical realism elements. The paperback edition offers accessible entry into Ausubel's distinctive literary voice that explores parenthood, pregnancy, and the transformative stages of human life with humor and emotional depth.
