[NXH]≡ Libro Gratis Aliens Other Stories Kathleen Wheaton 9780931846717 Books

Aliens Other Stories Kathleen Wheaton 9780931846717 Books

Download As PDF : Aliens Other Stories Kathleen Wheaton 9780931846717 Books

Aliens Other Stories Kathleen Wheaton 9780931846717 Books

I was sort of skeptical going into reading this, because sometimes when expats write using subject material gained abroad, they try to get away with things because they know most of their audience can't call them on it. That wasn't the case for these stories. They actually have a sensibility that is almost halfway between expat writing about another culture and immigrant introducing an American audience to her native culture through her fiction. It's a pleasant blend.


Tags : Aliens & Other Stories [Kathleen Wheaton] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The characters in Kathleen Wheaton's linked stories are exiles-from their native countries, their families,Kathleen Wheaton,Aliens & Other Stories,Washington Writers' Publishing House,0931846714,Argentina,FICTION General,Fiction - General,Fiction : Literary,FictionLiterary,General,Literary,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Aliens Other Stories Kathleen Wheaton 9780931846717 Books Reviews

Kathleen Wheaton's Aliens and Other Stories, the winner of the Washington Writers' Publishing House Fiction Prize explores women's lives with poignancy and cynicism, resignation and a "tomorrow is another day" Scarlett O'Hara determination to get on with the business of being a woman in a man's world. Many of her characters "are exiles, immigrants adrift in middle-class America." Some are political refugees from Argentina, others survivors of a Cuban shipwreck. But what struck me most were the universal messages embedded in the narratives of this 220-page compendium; women longing for connection but often resorting to their inner lives to find sustenance missing in marriages and family.

In several stories women are betrayed by other women who take boyfriends or husbands without a second thought. But there is no pitying tone here. In one short story, "Aliens," Sarah realizes Paul's narcissism is so prevalent that he views his betrayal as a non-intentional love affair; something neither he nor his girlfriend, Amy, were "looking for." As her husband turns to leave, she says softly, "Go to hell." But not before she struggles with the embarrassment of dropping her daughters off at Amy's house where Paul is now living. "I almost died," people say. That's what it feels like mortification so massive that she hears a roaring in her ears," Wheaton writes of Sarah. Then Sarah meets Amy, who looks at her as if she, too "might pass out."

In "Milagros," Mila is in Mexico with George, a successful novelist bedridden with typhoid fever. She has worked with him for years as muse, "helping him invent backstories for his women." "If we're to be friends," she tells him, "we would have to talk about me sometimes."

While George is sick in the hotel bed, Mila heads to the pool where she meets Mario, the father of two young daughters and a charming, sensual man who appreciates their shared Cuban heritage. After they make love, Mario reveals he is not divorced, as he had led her to believe. Rather, the love affair has been a way to cap off a vacation away from his wife. He presumes Mila has the same laissez fare attitude. "I thought we were on the same page," he says. "You come here with one man and the minute he gets sick you go off with another." Mila, who has fallen in love with Mario, protests. "That's different. George knows about you. He encouraged me to spend time with you!" Mario dismisses her protests as she lays naked in bed, surveying her from his "moral high ground." "You know the whole open-relationship scene is just too much for me," he says.

"So cad," Mila decides, "is good for something a taste of what you might have if you fell in love for real. But if I did fall in love, George would have to be part of the package, like a crazy abuela from the old country, living in a room off the kitchen."

What does Wheaton hope her readers take away from Aliens and Other Stories? "I hope that readers who have been aliens as well as those who simply have felt that way will find they have something in common with my characters." Without a doubt, she accomplished this.
When JKS Communications offered me to review Wheaton's book, I checked the synopsis and I instantly said yes. Do you know why? Because despite it is not the genre I usually read, I love reading books that deal with Spanish or Latino American issues because it make me feel that they know about us.

Aliens & Other Stories is a collection of short stories focused on Spanish or South American characters, war refugees, exiles. They are aliens in other countries who are taking a burden with them political issues, past, the consequences of leaving the family behind, the struggle of being in a new country.... All the stories are intertwined perfectly. Each character and story are perfectly developed, making the reader aware that we are all connected in some way or the other. The book has different kind of characters, each with a personality, a past, a desire. I loved the way the author was able to create a mini master piece in each story. I am intrigued by how she could have created such a detailed background in each story that she always left me wanting to know more about the story. I do know that creating a novel is difficult but after reading Aliens & Other Stories, I am aware that writing a short story is by far, more difficult. The fact that the author needs to think a whole plot, just to write some pages. To decide on what she is going to focus and what she is going to leave behind, in the "backstage". Wheaton has been able to create "a whole" by adding apparently unconnected pieces.

I really liked every short story that was included in the book. They made me learnt about los desaparecidos from Argentina (which I have heard about them but never really know who they were), it took me to places such as Buenos Aires, Mexico, Maryland or Madrid. But I do have my favorite ones "Flames" and "Looker". "Flames" because I was curious about Joaquin and his relationship with Edith and because this family is the one that gets more attention, I think there are 3 stories about them. And "Looker" because it is placed in Madrid and though I am from Zaragoza, I love reading thing about Spain. And most importantly, how they see us ( I have always thought that foreigners think Spain is party, siesta, paella, sevillanas and lazy people) and I am really happy to see that the author has portrayed a realistic view of what Spain is.

I really loved reading the sentences that were in Spanish, they were perfectly translated and I love it because I have read other books with Spanish sentences that are incorrect. Wheaton's narrative style is fluid, it has the perfect tempo. Words flow naturally, there is no fast or slow rhythm.

Aliens & Other Stories is a contemporary book that deals with the struggle that exiles deal with everyday. It is a perfect read for the lovers of South American or Spanish history and language.
These short stories capture the many layers of feelings one experiences as a stranger in a new land. Beautifully written!
Well-written, insightful treatment of characters, important thematic issues. Although many characters are literally aliens, Wheaton reminds us that we are all aliens, from ourselves, from what we might have been.

Excellent work. I look forward to more fiction from this author.
I was sort of skeptical going into reading this, because sometimes when expats write using subject material gained abroad, they try to get away with things because they know most of their audience can't call them on it. That wasn't the case for these stories. They actually have a sensibility that is almost halfway between expat writing about another culture and immigrant introducing an American audience to her native culture through her fiction. It's a pleasant blend.