Rough Translations

by Molly Giles

Overview

Molly Giles's engaging collection of stories was the winner not only of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction but also of the 1985 San Francisco Bay Area Book Reviewers Association (BABRA) Award for Fiction and the 1986 Boston Globe Fiction Award. Many of the stories in Rough Translations have been anthologized and adapted for radio performance.

A master of the complexities of language, Molly Giles writes of the missed connections in life and of the rough translations that we employ when we try to convey, through words and gestures, what we are thinking and what we want from our loved ones.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820323701
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	11/10/2004
Series:	Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction Series , #61
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.39(d)

About the Author

MOLLY GILES is a lecturer in the creative writing department at San Francisco State University. Her stories have appeared in Playgirl, Redbook, North American Review, New England Review, and Ascent, among other publications. She lives in Woodacre, California, with her three daughters.

MOLLY GILES is a lecturer in the creative writing department at San Francisco State University. Her stories have appeared in Playgirl, Redbook, North American Review, New England Review, and Ascent, among other publications. She lives in Woodacre, California, with her three daughters.

Table of Contents

	Old Souls	1
	A Jar of Emeralds	10
	Heart and Soul	19
	How to Quit Smoking	29
	Baby Pictures	40
	Chocolate Footballs	52
	The Planter Box	70
	Pie Dance	77
	What Do You Say?	86
	Peril	95
	Self-Defense	107
	Rough Translations	120

Editorial Reviews

The title of Molly Giles's first collection of short fiction reflects her attempt to capture in layered phrases and fresh, sharp dialogue the timely theme of human connections gone bad, broken, or missed altogether.

New York Times Book Review

Were it to stand by itself without a prize to commend it, this volume of short stories would demand attention. The twelve stories, while differing widely in style and tone, all attempt to illuminate the intimate aspects of our lives . . . Rough Translations joins the ranks of excellent short story collections that have appeared so far this year, such as Amy Hempel's Reasons to Live

Choice

Giles's stories are tiny gems, carved from real American life, precise and identifiable.

Houston Post

Her impeccable timing and energetic prose sacrifice grandstanding in favor of exploration and direct statement, often tempered with a great, hushed humor.

San Francisco Chronicle

Her impeccable timing and energetic prose sacrifice grandstanding in favor of exploration and direct statement, often tempered with a great, hushed humor.

San Francisco Chronicle

"The title of Molly Giles's first collection of short fiction reflects her attempt to capture in layered phrases and fresh, sharp dialogue the timely theme of human connections gone bad, broken, or missed altogether."--New York Times Book Review

"Her impeccable timing and energetic prose sacrifice grandstanding in favor of exploration and direct statement, often tempered with a great, hushed humor."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Giles's stories are tiny gems, carved from real American life, precise and identifiable."--Houston Post

"A current as irresistible as the tide flows through and unifies these stories. . . . [They] carry you with wit and compassion into corners of the mind and heart that most writers neglect to enter."--Publishers Weekly

"Were it to stand by itself without a prize to commend it, this volume of short stories would demand attention. The twelve stories, while differing widely in style and tone, all attempt to illuminate the intimate aspects of our lives . . . Rough Translations joins the ranks of excellent short story collections that have appeared so far this year, such as Amy Hempel's Reasons to Live" -Choice

From the Publisher