Strange Attractors: Stories

By Rebecca Goldstein and Adriana Herrera

Book Overview

A National Jewish Honor Book composed of seven short stories from the author of The Mind-Body Problem . A mathematician studies the geometry of soap bubbles and responds to the rapture of infatuation by reciting Shakespeare in Yiddish. A group of Olympian intellects is made childlike by the appearance of a double rainbow. Becky Sharp steps out of the pages of Vanity Fair to confound a pretentious philosopher. These are just some of the marvelous and unlikely things that happen in Strange Attractors --a collection of stories that explores the interactions of thought and feeling, mind and heart, to reveal the deep, mysterious ties between seemingly unrelated lives. "A wonderful collection . . . A picture of remarkable depth and complexity."-- Los Angeles Times "Electric and compelling . . . Rebecca Goldstein brings a keen and specially informed vision to our world."-- Newsday "Rebecca Goldstein again probes the relationships between female intellect and emotion--this time in a sparkling, erudite collection in which brilliant women's minds dictate their romantic attachments while their gender continues to dictate their fate."-- Kirkus Reviews

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140172467
• ISBN13: 9780140172461
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Getting My Hands on the Chimera

This short story, The Editor's Story, renewed my love of reading. The author transported me back to 1907-1908, through a story told to supposed listener. The female author, Rebecca Goldstein, recounted the story of a male editor's evoking of the Modern Novel from the least expected author-to-beat-all authors... a timid female named E. A. Worthinghouse. Eugenia eludes description. However, she did herald the Modern Era, and she birthed female desire headfirst into the Modern Novel, through a sub-story known as "Antonia's Confession". The Editor's Story embodies the evasive, the illusive and the deeply mysterious in a straight-forward, recounting-sort-of-way. The path of the story always leads back to Chimera, and E.A. Worthinghouse. "I can't remember the last time I was so excited by a new work as I am by Chimera", I continued. "I was completely fascinated, overwhelmed-and not just a little bit appalled". I haven't read anything else by Rebecca Goldstein, and I'm a little worried I've stumbled across a "one hit wonder". For the moment, I'm content to read The Editor's Story. Though I'd love to get my hands on Chimera.

Enjoyed it!

What a insightful collection of short stories by one of my all-time favorite American authors! As a bonus I was also so surprised and happy to meet the characters from Goldstein's book "Mazel" again. I read the entire collection in a couple of sittings, and I was amazed at the scope of themes included - even though they all deal with "being Jewish" in one way or a another. As much as I like Goldstein's novels, I sincerely hope she will write more in this genre again as well. Recommended!