The Curse of the Appropriate Man - Paperback

by Lynn Freed (Author)

These fourteen short stories, written over the past ten years but never before collected, deal with the struggles between mothers and their wayward daughters, the often preposterous bonds that tie men and women together, and the complex games masters and servants play with one another. In spare, elegant prose, Freed delivers surprise after surprise as she shakes the truth from life. Whether it's her portrayal of a mother mired in senile dementia in "Ma," a young girl experiencing her first sexual encounter with an itinerant knife-sharpener in "Under the House," or a young woman incapable of loving conventionally in "An Error of Desire," Freed portrays the absurdity, the delusions, the dramas, and the dignity of her characters' lives. These masterful stories reinforce her reputation as one of our most fearless and sophisticated explorers of sexual and filial love.

Back Jacket

These witty, subtly erotic stories explore the fierce bonds and hidden compulsions that drive the lives of women, young and old.
Whether depicting the struggle between strong mothers and rebellious daughters, or the often bizarre directions in which women's desires can take them, Lynn Freed delivers surprise after surprise. These masterful stories reinforce her reputation as one of our most fearless and sophisticated observers of love in all its forms-a writer who shakes the truth from life.

Praise for Lynn Freed's novels
"Freed wonderfully carries off that hardest of all literary effects-it feels effortless and therefore absolutely real."-Elle
There is not a word out of place... Freed delves deep into the morass of sexual and filial love without mitigating complexity, and leads her reader toward insight and understanding with a deft and delicate touch."-The Washington Post Book World
Lynn Freed is the author of five novels, and the inaugural recipient of the Katherine Anne Porter Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Northern
California.

Author Biography

Lynn Freed is the author of five novels. She is the winner of numerous grants and the inaugural Katherine Anne Porter Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Born in South Africa, she lives in Sonoma, California.