Ann Beattie

Posted on by Iansã

Beattie’s stories are a master class in narrative technique. First person or third; present tense or past; one story line or several; intercutting time frames or A-to-Z chronology; single scenes, impressionistic fragments, long unfoldings. The effects are precise, understated.

Have you read Ann Beattie? I have not and I am interested in her early – through – eighties stories now.

Axé.

3 thoughts on “Ann Beattie”

  1. I have read a few things by her, and her writing more than passes muster, but there is a caveat.

    Beattie seems to be one of those straight women who hang around with gay men to make themselves more interesting, and she only marginally succeeds. Though she deserves to have been published, that so many accolades were hoisted upon her–well let’s just say that without the added “color” I do not think that she would have risen as high as she did during that time.

    Naturally this is all my opinion.

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  2. I don’t know why, but I’ve never been able to get interested in her work. Not a reflection on her, but more that I am not interested in reading about rootless and feckless people.

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  3. I always have a hard time getting into these middle class New England type writers. But I’m now interested in her for the sake of technique.

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