In "We’ll Get to Now Later" Stan, a guilt-stricken white South African immigrant confronts his apartheid past when he meets a Zulu dancer traveling with a circus in the United States; in "Pig Day" Jared, an American teenager, accidentally kills his best friend Nick, the son of a Romanian immigrant, and is co-opted by the bereaved father to build a coffin; and in "A Sudden New City" Heila, a mentally frail and physically faltering white South African grandmother, drives a tractor into a black crowd as revenge for her husband Jacob’s infidelity across the color line.
The voices we hear in Saunders’s stories are male, female, young, old, American, South African, Romanian. In richly textured prose, they attest to moments as sublime as the music of the spheres or depict images of earth bound brutality bloody as a goat’s severed head on a pike. In the tradition of Nadine Goridmer and Norman Rush, but with its own sense of comedy and metaphor, Blessings on the Sheep Dog is a wizardly act of ventriloquism to listen to, relish, remember.
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What ties my stories together, regardless of how the characters became displaced, is the way people struggle with feelings too deep to articulate. By pondering what they know of astronomy, botany, anthropology, math, or music, the characters (and, I hope, the readers) reach moments of insight – if not comfort – about the alienating environments they find themselves in.
"What I admire in Gerda Saunders’s fine first collection is its depth and versatility. Like an accomplished actress, she takes on the voices of men and women of different ages and nationalities with a pitch-perfect ear for the nuances of dialogue and thought. Saunders is a crafty storyteller, and her South African tales are captivating."—Enid Shomer, author of Imaginary Men
In "We’ll Get to Now Later," a guilt-stricken white South African immigrant confronts his apartheid past when he meets a Zulu dancer traveling with a circus in the United States. In "Pig Day," an American teenager accidentally kills his best friend Nick, the son of a Romanian immigrant, and is co-opted by the bereaved father to build Nick’s coffin. In "A Sudden New City," Heila, a frail and mentally faltering white South African grandmother, drives a tractor into a black crowd as revenge for her husband’s infidelity across the color line.
In the tradition of Nadine Gordimer and Norman Rush, but with its own sense of comedy and metaphor, Blessings on the Sheep Dog is a first work by a master storyteller.
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Book Description Condition: Good. First Edition, First Printing. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 39672246-6
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Missing dust jacket; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.34. Seller Inventory # G0870744682I3N01
Book Description Hard Back. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: New. First Printing. 200 Pages. This collection of stories moves from the violent world of apartheid South Africa to the supposed immigrant haven of the United States. It's characters tackle questions about connection, displacement, death, love, race and justice. writing about life in South Africa. The characters in the stories live through the struggles of a racially divided South Africa, the riots and release of Nelson Mandala. Some of the stories tell of characters who have left South Africa and are living in America, of South Africans who are on the verge of leaving, and of those who will never leave, no matter the consequence. Author's first story collection. Saunders emigrated to the United States from South Africa and she returned to school to complete a Ph.D. in English. Seller Inventory # 9304