Sister to Sister

by Patricia Foster

Overview

Sister to Sister includes essays and stories by:

Meena Alexander
Robin Behn
Louise DeSalvo
Erika Duncan
Maria Flook
Patricia Foster
Bonnie Friedman
Donna Gordon
Lucy Grealy
Joy Harjo
Bell Hooks
Pam Houston
Jesse Lee Kercheval
Lori Hope Norris
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Mona Simpson
Debra Spark
Joan Wickersham
Joy Williams

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307794734
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/11/2011
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	2 MB

Editorial Reviews

Collection of stories and essays exploring the relationships between sisters. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Although both of these books are about sibling relationships, the similarity ends there. Foster, who teaches nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa, has pulled together 20 diverse essays from some of today's best-known female writers. Contributors to this volume include bell hooks, Robin Behn, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and Joy Williams. The essays, while all centering on the themes of sisterly relationships, run the literary gamut. Fanciful fiction pieces are included, as are straightforward autobiographical anecdotes and a couple of critical essays. Any library with a demand for contemporary women's literature should have this collection. Merrell's book, on the other hand, is a journalist's psychoanalytic look at the dynamics of all sibling relationships. Based on in-depth interviews, this work tries to explain the hidden forces that bring siblings together and push them apart. The case studies showcase a variety of familial situations, including relationships between twins and half-siblings and the special bond between a special-needs brother and his caretaker sister. The book suffers from too many diversions; Merrell's long asides interrupt her narrative flow. Despite this organizational flaw, her book is a worthwhile addition to most public and undergraduate libraries because of the author's extensive and enlightening research.-Pamela A. Matthews, Missouri Western State Coll., St. Joseph

Library Journal