''Delicate Edible Birds'' is a

short story collection A short story collection is a book of short stories and/or novellas by a single author. A short story collection is distinguished from an anthology of fiction, which would contain work by several authors (e.g., '' Les Soirées de Médan''). Th ...

written by Lauren Groff. Groff was born and raised in Cooperstown, New York, home of American writers James Fenimore Cooper and W. W. Lord. Several of the stories take place in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. Before its release, Groff had also authored a best-selling novel, '' The Monsters of Templeton''.

Summary

The anthology comprises nine dramatic stories, taken together, spanning a century. In each story, a slice of life of various American women is revealed. *"Lucky Chow Fun" takes place in the mythical Templeton ( Cooperstown, New York), the setting of her first novel. In this tale, seventeen-year-old Lollie hopes to leave for college without looking back, but sinister events end up causing her to fear for the safety of her little sister and the future of her once-safe little town. *"L. Debard and Aliette" is a crafty re-telling of the story of Abelard and Héloïse in New York amidst the

1918 flu pandemic The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, H1N1 subtype of the influenz ...

. *"Majorette" is a story of a young woman's personal growth in

Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey ...

and the events that make her more worldly and the father and grandfather that always hold their little girl in deep affection. *"Blythe" is the story of a bored, introverted

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

attorney who has turned into a stay-at-home mom whose life changes when she takes a night class and meets an extroverted and eccentric woman who draws her out. *"The Wife of the Dictator" is a character study of a simple American girl who marries a Latin American dictator. Her fate is inexorably bound up with his. *"Sir Fleeting" is a story where a Midwestern farm girl on her honeymoon in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

falls into lifelong lust for a French playboy. *"Watershed" is a tragedy, between a husband and a wife, which proves the maxim "don't say things you'll later regret". *"Delicate Edible Birds" takes place during the fall of France. A disparate, but close group of War correspondents are held against their will by an evil French farmer who exacts a steep price in exchange for not turning them over to the Nazis.

Characters

* ''Lollie'', in "Lucky Chow Fun", is a seventeen-year-old high school senior hoping to leave for college without fear or regret, but suddenly finds her quaint small town to be a sinister place. * ''Aliette'', in "L. Debard and Aliette", is a young woman, temporarily felled by polio, who falls in love with the older L.Debard. * ''Bern'', in "Delicate Edible Birds", is a daring, attractive, female war correspondent, whose loss of personal honor in the name of the survival of others is an

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

for France herself.

Reviews

*''Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff'' Book Review by Claire Hopely, ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'', February 22, 2009 *"Delicate Edible Birds: And Other Stories" Book Review, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', December 12, 2008

Accolades

* The title story "Delicate Edible Birds" was chosen for '' The Best American Short Stories'' 2010 anthology. * "L. Debard and Aliette" was a chosen for '' The Best American Short Stories'' 2007 anthology and was an O'Henry Recommended Story * "Lucky Chow Fun" won the Pushcart Prize in 2008

References

{{Lauren Groff American short story collections 2009 short story collections