SERIES IN CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Dream House, by Barbara Bean
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About the Book:
In these nine brilliant stories, love and marriage are examined and reexamined from a variety of perspectives, all provocative, all troubling. A teacher falls in love with her student, a sister dances naked for her brother, a wife loves her husband's mistress, a widow learns the close relationship between love and death, a trilogy explores the course of a marriage shot through with secrets, and the irrationality and mystery of love are discovered over and over again. The dream house of the title story is the one beneath the surface, the private house, where love opens up new avenues of intimacy, news ways of knowing another person. In Barbara Bean's debut collection, we are introduced to a striking new voice in contemporary fiction, a voice at once sexy, funny, wise and unforgettable.
"In this funny and moving collection, Barbara Bean demonstrates a genius for transforming the everyday world into a harrowing carnival of possibility and risk. Her characters—made reckless by middle-class stagnation—leave social convention in the dust as they commit themselves to the more hazardous realms of adultery, bad judgment, and far-fetched hopes. This book marks the debut of an extraordinary writer."
— Clint McCown, author of War Memorials and The Member-Guest
"These gorgeous, sensuous stories explore the dark corners of the heart, where secrets and yearning reside. Characters long for one another, they find ways to reach out, sometimes they transgress. Always the results are surprising. Reading Dream House is like slipping with shocked joy into a dream, a place where every aspect of human life is charged with mystery and desire."
— Erin McGraw, author of Lies of the Saints and Bodies at Sea
About the Author:
Barbara Bean was born in Clinton, Iowa. She graduated from Knox College and holds an MFA from Indiana University. Her stories have appeared in Beloit Fiction Journal, Colorado Review, Laurel Review, North American Review, and Northwest Review. A professor of creative writing and English at DePauw University, Bean lives with her husband in Greencastle, Indiana.
Dream House, by Barbara Bean
CLICK TO PURCHASE
About the Book:
In these nine brilliant stories, love and marriage are examined and reexamined from a variety of perspectives, all provocative, all troubling. A teacher falls in love with her student, a sister dances naked for her brother, a wife loves her husband's mistress, a widow learns the close relationship between love and death, a trilogy explores the course of a marriage shot through with secrets, and the irrationality and mystery of love are discovered over and over again. The dream house of the title story is the one beneath the surface, the private house, where love opens up new avenues of intimacy, news ways of knowing another person. In Barbara Bean's debut collection, we are introduced to a striking new voice in contemporary fiction, a voice at once sexy, funny, wise and unforgettable.
"In this funny and moving collection, Barbara Bean demonstrates a genius for transforming the everyday world into a harrowing carnival of possibility and risk. Her characters—made reckless by middle-class stagnation—leave social convention in the dust as they commit themselves to the more hazardous realms of adultery, bad judgment, and far-fetched hopes. This book marks the debut of an extraordinary writer."
— Clint McCown, author of War Memorials and The Member-Guest
"These gorgeous, sensuous stories explore the dark corners of the heart, where secrets and yearning reside. Characters long for one another, they find ways to reach out, sometimes they transgress. Always the results are surprising. Reading Dream House is like slipping with shocked joy into a dream, a place where every aspect of human life is charged with mystery and desire."
— Erin McGraw, author of Lies of the Saints and Bodies at Sea
About the Author:
Barbara Bean was born in Clinton, Iowa. She graduated from Knox College and holds an MFA from Indiana University. Her stories have appeared in Beloit Fiction Journal, Colorado Review, Laurel Review, North American Review, and Northwest Review. A professor of creative writing and English at DePauw University, Bean lives with her husband in Greencastle, Indiana.