Curled in the Bed of Love : Stories

To read Curled in the Bed of Love is to feel the incessant tug between devotion and desire that can unmake even the closest couple. These eleven stories are set in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in true Left Coast style, Catherine Brady's characters are as resolute in evading middle-class conformity as they are in clinging to their illusions about love. And while they never shy from paying their dues, they can't help but wonder sometimes if their choices have at last accrued too high a cost. What lies in the bed of love, with women and men curled sometimes in repose, sometimes in a defensive knot, are failed dreams, reproofs, ambitions, and stubborn beliefs. Always, mortality threatens the lovers' embrace. In the title story, Jim and his HIV-positive partner contend with an illness that has fueled their love but also threatens to consume it. In some stories, an outsider exposes the frailty of a relationship. Claire, who's opted for a steady marriage in "The Loss of Green," is both stirred and repelled by the advances of her former mate Sam, a radical environmentalist with a predatory need to reassert his claim on her. And in "Behold the Handmaid of the Lord," Debbie, compelled to translate a brief affair with her cousin's fiancé into a profound transgression, comes clean on a sleazy national talk show. All of Brady's stories are gritty and unflinching in their gaze, yet lyrical and rich in the imagery of stasis and change--an empty house too long on the market, a pair of kayakers riding out a patch of rough sea, a greenhouse in which the orchid blooms only suggest the darting vitality of butterflies and birds. There is much to learn in these tales of flawed but good people working hard to hold their lives together. Review "How does she do it? Brady's range is dazzling. . . . Her stories, unflaggingly compassionate, delve into the complexities of identity and connection."—Toni Graham, author of The Daiquiri Girls "These compelling, intimate stories illumine the lives of people who are old enough to know themselves—their joys and weaknesses, their private passions—and who yet often surprise themselves when they discover what they cannot give up. A beautiful and poignant collection."—Lan Samantha Chang, author of Hunger: A Novella and Stories "An achingly lovely collection about the ache of love. Catherine Brady is a thrilling young fictional voice."—Robert Olen Butler, author of Mr. Spaceman "Brady's stories wrap all the old questions in new packaging: live, crisp prose and characters who genuinely seem to feel. The plots may be familiar, but the sensibility is refreshingly different."— Kirkus Reviews "It's rare for a writer to explore with such subtlety and respect the curious sumbiosis of the needy and the needed as Brady does."—Joyce Carol Oates, New York Review of Books "Compelling and illuminating short stories that reveal private passions, the human tendency to cling to the familiar and the razor's edge on which so many relationships are balanced. Brady shows a broad range, while retaining a simple, yet strong and clear voice. She is a writer to watch."— San Jose Mercury News "Brady is a meticulous writer. Every word seems carefully chosen in order to trace the fine contours of her characters' subtle and complex desires. . . . The grace of Brady's writing is only enhanced by the dialogue between the characters. At times it is surprisingly snappy. Surprising, perhaps, because their internal lives are described with such care, their desires and inner struggles mapped so astutely."—Rebecca Tuch, Women's Review of Books From the Publisher Winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction

To read Curled in the Bed of Love is to feel the incessant tug between devotion and desire that can unmake even the closest couple. These eleven stories are set in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in true Left Coast style, Catherine Brady's characters are as resolute in evading middle-class conformity as they are in clinging to their illusions about love. And while they never shy from paying their dues, they can't help but wonder sometimes if their choices have at last accrued too high a cost. What lies in the bed of love, with women and men curled sometimes in repose, sometimes in a defensive knot, are failed dreams, reproofs, ambitions, and stubborn beliefs.

Always, mortality threatens the lovers' embrace. In the title story, Jim and his HIV-positive partner contend with an illness that has fueled their love but also threatens to consume it. In some stories, an outsider exposes the frailty of a relationship. Claire, who's opted for a steady marriage in The Loss of Green, is both stirred and repelled by the advances of her former mate Sam, a radical environmentalist with a predatory need to reassert his claim on her. And in Behold the Handmaid of the Lord, Debbie, compelled to translate a brief affair with her cousin's fiancé into a profound transgression, comes clean on a sleazy national talk show.

All of Brady's stories are gritty and unflinching in their gaze, yet lyrical and rich in the imagery of stasis and change--an empty house too long on the market, a pair of kayakers riding out a patch of rough sea, a greenhouse in which the orchid blooms only suggest the darting vitality of butterflies and birds. There is much to learn in these tales of flawed but good peopleworking hard to hold their lives together.

Library Journal

Brady received the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction for this second story collection, which gathers 11 well-written vignettes about assorted characters in the San Francisco Bay area, who all share a predilection for wine and sex. This was a staple of Hemingway's writing, too, but somehow the efforts here-Brady's allusions to poetry, art, jazz, literature, and addiction-come together as a collection of neatly packaged clich s. Still, even when they are skimming deeper relationship issues with cursory metaphors, the stories are highly readable. Brady has a powerful descriptive control and an ease with words that serve to complicate ordinary setups and deliver quietly devastating moments. She attempts to take on every sad aspect of relationships, from disease and death to infidelity and impotence, yet the strongest stories make the reader understand why we still go on looking for love. Recommended for larger libraries.-Prudence Peiffer, Southampton, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Eleven stories set in San Francisco chronicle the lives of characters who avoid middle class lifestyles while clinging to their idealism about love and life, including Jim and his AIDS-afflicted partner who find romance and danger in the shadow of the disease, and a young woman who confesses an affair with her cousin's fiance on a talk show. Winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. (Story Collection) The loss of green Comfort Nothing to hide Honor among thieves Curled in the bed of love Light, air, water Side by side Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird Roam the wilderness Written in stone Behold the handmaid of the Lord.