Synopses & Reviews
In these wonderfully funny and poignant stories, Willett's eccentric, complex characters think and do the unconventional. Soft, euphonic women gradually grow old; weak, unhappy men confront love and their own mortality; and abominable children desperately try to grow up with grace. With a unique voice and dry humor, Willett gives us a new insight into human existence, showing us those specific moments in relationships when life suddenly becomes visible.
Critically acclaimed when it was first published in 1987, Jenny and the Jaws of Life is being brought back due to popular demand. It's a timeless collection filled with a certain freshness and wit that ring just as loudly today.
Review
"Willett is a marvelous philosopher and humanist, even when writing about subjects that beg for a knee-jerk reaction....Willett is alive to the absurd in American culture and the tragicomic struggle for dignity that we often lose." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Willett's characters are an odd lot ranging from advice columnist to serial killer but they share a profound loneliness and make for a great, darkly comic collection. Need a second opinion? In the foreword, brilliant humorist (and Esquire contributing editor) David Sedaris writes: 'I am prepared to wear a sandwich board for this book. I can't help myself. It's just too good.'" Elizabeth Einstein, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
Synopsis
Jincy Willett is the high priestess of dark comedy. The classic stories in this collection cut through every convention, every idea of normalcy, with empathy and fearless wit, undermining all the old ideas about the happy family, the good son, the dutiful mother. In Willett's world, perversity and tenderness walk hand in hand; there's laughter and funerals, ambivalence in the nursery, and redemption for the wicked. As David Sedaris writes in his foreword, "I'm prepared to wear a sandwich board for this book. I can't help myself. It' just too good."
About the Author
Jincy Willett is a writer and editor based in San Diego, CA. Her short stories have appeared in
Playgirl, The Yale Review, and the
Massachusetts Review.