num_pages: 307
description: These fifteen stories by Ann Beattie garnered universal critical acclaim on their first publication, earning Beattie the reputation as the most celebrated new voice in American fiction. Today these stories -- "A Vintage Thunderbird;" "The Lawn Party, " " La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans," to name a few -- seem even more powerful, and are read and studied as classics of the short-story form. Spare and elegant, yet charged with feeling and with the tension of things their characters cannot say, they are masterly portraits of improvised lives.
language: English
title: Secrets and Surprises
titlecomplete: Secrets and Surprises
genres: Fiction, American, Short Stories, Literature, 20th Century
ratings_count: 231
publisher: Random House