Politics and Prose
@politicsprose·255K subscribers·4K videos
Ann Beattie — Onlookers
Posted
September 2, 2023
Views
1,644
Likes
38
Engagement
2.31%
September 2, 2023
1,644
38
2.31%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
48:32Now PlayingWatch author Ann Beattie's book talk and reading at Politics and Prose book store in Washington, D.C.
PURCHASE BOOK HERE
Onlookers is an astute new story collection about people living in the same Southern town whose lives intersect in surprising ways. Peaceful Charlottesville, Virginia, drew national attention when white nationalists held a rally there in 2017, a horrific event whose repercussions are still felt today. Confederate monuments such as General Robert E. Lee atop his horse were then still standing. The statues are a constant presence and a metaphoric refrain throughout this collection, though they represent different things to different characters. Some landmarks may have faded from consciousness but provoke fresh outrage when viewed through newly opened eyes.
In "Nearby," an elderly man and his younger wife watch from their penthouse as protestors gather to oppose the once "heroic" explorers Lewis and Clark depicted towering over their native guide, Sacagawea. A lawyer in "In the Great Southern Tradition" deals with a crisis on Richmond's Monument Avenue, while his sister and nephew plant tulip bulbs at her stately home.
These are stories of unexpected relationships and affiliations that affirm the value of friendship, even when it requires difficult compromises or unexpected risks. Beattie involves the reader in questions about the nature of community, as the characters grapple with complicated inheritances that are both historical and personal and the realities of their lives interact uneasily with the past.
Ann Beattie has been included in five O. Henry Award Collections, in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Short Stories of the Century. She is the recipient of the PEN/Malamud Award for achievement in the short story. In 2005, she received the Rea Award for the Short Story. The former Edgar Allan Poe Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Virginia, she is a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She and her husband, Lincoln Perry, live in Maine, Virginia, and Florida.
Be Sure To Click SUBSCRIBE
@politicsprose
Visit us online at
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on instagram
Like us on Facebook
Follow Us On TikTok
Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter:
Become a store member and save
Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics and Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics and Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online.
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
