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2012 short story collection by Nathan Englander From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank is a 2012 short story collection by the American writer Nathan Englander.[1] The book was first published on February 7, 2012, through Knopf and collects eight of Englander's short stories, including the title story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank."
![]() First edition cover image | |
Author | Nathan Englander |
---|---|
Cover artist | Barbard de Wilde |
Language | English |
Genre | Fiction |
Published | 7 February 2012 |
Publisher | Knopf |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print, e-book, audiobook |
Pages | 224 pages |
Awards | Finalist 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction |
ISBN | 0307958701 |
The title of the collection takes its influence from Raymond Carver's 1981 short story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. The book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, losing to Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master's Son. Englander's collection was awarded the 2012 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award.
Critical reception for What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank has been mostly positive and the book received praise from the Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, and the Jewish Book Council.[5][6][7]
In The New York Times, Michiko Kakutani gave the book a mixed-to-positive review, stating: "At his best, Mr. Englander manages to delineate such extreme behavior with a combination of psychological insight, allegorical gravity and sometimes uproarious comedy" but that "In several instances, however, the delicate narrative balance slips from Mr. Englander’s grasp." Kakutani also notes: "It’s the title story and “Everything I Know About My Family” that point to Mr. Englander's evolution as a writer, his ability to fuse humor and moral seriousness into a seamless narrative, to incorporate elliptical — yes, Carver-esque — techniques into his arsenal of talents to explore how faith and family (and the stories characters tell about faith and family) ineluctably shape an individual's identity."[8]
James Lasdun's review for The Guardian was more positive, adding: "If there is an abiding theme, it is the way in which notions of right and wrong, guilt and innocence, victim and oppressor, shift over time as memories fade or new perspectives open up on old struggles." Lasdun also offered praise for Englander: "The new book (which comes garlanded with praise from just about every A-list author in America) turns out to be a remarkable collection, not least because of its courageous determination to push forward in the direction hinted at by that last story." He did, however characterize the title story as a "dud, or semi-dud" and noted: "But I suspect Englander might have pulled it off if he hadn't constrained himself so tightly within the terms of Carver's scrupulous realism."[9]
The book received an honourable mention in the Sophie Brody Award 2013.
A comedy play adapted from the book, starring Joshua Malina and directed by Patrick Marber will open in October 2024 at the Marylebone Theatre in London.[10]
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