Someone to Watch Over Me - by Richard Bausch (Paperback)

About the Book

An author described as "among the most masterful of American fiction writers" ("Boston Globe") captures the essence of human intimacy and the rhythm of ordinary conversation in this collection of short stories, many of which have appeared in "The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly", and "Esquire".

Book Synopsis

"The essential mystery at the heart of every relationship is the subject of these twelve stories. What drives people together? What drives them apart? Revenge, boredom, sex--they're all here. . . . The landscape of the heart depicted here is less bleak than it sounds; what drives these stories is the belief that love is reachable just around the bend." --Entertainment Weekly

Richard Bausch is a master of the intimate moment, of the ways we seek to make lasting connections to one another and to the world. Few writers evoke the complexities of love as subtly, and few capture the poignancy of the sudden insight or the rhythms of ordinary conversation with such delicacy and humor. To read these twelve stories--of love and loss, of families and strangers, of small moments and enormous epiphanies--is to be reminded again of the power of short fiction to thrill and move us, to make us laugh, or cry. In these profound glimpses into the private fears, joys, and sorrows of people we know, we find revealed a whole range of human experience, told with extraordinary force, clarity, and compassion.

Review Quotes

"The essential mystery at the heart of every relationship is the subject of these twelve stories. What drives people together? What drives them apart? Revenge, boredom, sex--they're all here. . . . The landscape of the heart depicted here is less bleak than it sounds; what drives these stories is the belief that love is reachable just around the bend." -- Entertainment Weekly

"As in his past work, Bausch aims for luminous simplicity. His stories radiate a conviction that you can eavesdrop on any life and find something worth hearing. . . .Bausch hovers over his characters like the guardian angel they all seek, like the perfect parent or spouse: respectful, patient, engaged, but never pushy, never obtrusive." -- New York Times Book Review

"Among the most masterful of American fiction writers. . . . Employing a variety of tones and techniques. . . Bausch again casts colorful light on contemporary humanity, letting us see ourselves as in a glass, less darkly." -- Boston Globe

"Confused relations and the panic of loss suffuse the tales in Richard Bausch's stunning fifth collection of short fiction. . . .Bausch's chilling and believable dramas are haunting; the stories advance with the gravity of stop-motion photography. And the characters, driven to desperate acts, incapable of hearing one another, will linger long in readers' minds." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Mr. Bausch's stories have a restorative quality. They demonstrate the power of crisp, unsparing lucidity. They may not cheer you up, but they'll make you glad you read them." -- Wall Street Journal

"Some writers seem to have an instinctive sensitivity to human emotion. They seem to be able to reach inside human experience, responding to its variety instead of its limitations, and they have the rarest of abilities to record the nuances of this experience to create literature. Richard Bausch...is one of those rare mater writers, and his power continues to grow." -- Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Richard Bausch is a master of the short story...He brings to life characters and situations as vivid and compelling as any in contemporary literature. Bausch's literary voice is reminiscent of no one else's; he is an original." -- Milwaukee Journal

"In his fifth story collection, Bausch delightfully proves himself the chronicler of faults--not wrongs, but the shy, ambiguous, and sometimes disastrous ways we don't quite get each other. . . .Short fiction is widely regarded as Bausch's strongest genre, and this engaging collection can only fortify that impression." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Bausch has a keen ear for...the dialogues of love, and he brings as much compassion as talent to his shining stories." -- Booklist