{"product_id":"the-accomplished-guest-stories","title":"The Accomplished Guest Stories","description":"\u003cb\u003e* A \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Fiction Book of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA magnificent new collection from award-winning author Ann Beattie—featuring recent O. Henry, Pushcart, and \u003ci\u003eBest American Short Story\u003c\/i\u003e selections.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSurprising and revealing, set along the East Coast from Maine to Key West, Ann Beattie’s astutely observed new collection explores unconventional friendships, frustrated loves, mortality, and aging.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOne theme of \u003ci\u003eThe Accomplished Guest\u003c\/i\u003e is people paying visits or receiving visitors, traveling to see old friends, the joys and tolls of hosting company (and of being hosted). The occasion might be a wedding, a birthday, a reunion, an annual Christmas party, or another opportunity to gather and attempt to bond with biological relatives or chosen families. In some stories, as in life, what begins as a benign social event becomes a situation played for high stakes.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe stories in \u003ci\u003eThe Accomplished Guest \u003c\/i\u003eare marked by an undercurrent of loss and an unexpected element of violence, with Beattie’s signature mordant humor woven throughout. Some characters provide welcome diversions, others are uninvited interruptions, all are indelibly drawn by the endlessly amusing and accomplished Ann Beattie.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBeattie’s debut collection \u003ci\u003eDistortions\u003c\/i\u003e was published forty years ago, but her writing is as fresh, funny, and relevant as ever. She is “a national treasure, the author of short stories that will endure and continue to inspire” (Jay McInerney, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e).","brand":"OUATB","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48531900629247,"sku":"*R0108397*","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0487\/5550\/7364\/files\/12393513482722.jpg?v=1778869410","url":"https:\/\/shop.onceuponatimebooks.com\/products\/the-accomplished-guest-stories","provider":"Once Upon a Time Books AR","version":"1.0","type":"link"}