One Day in the Life of a Born Again Loser and Other Stories

by Helen Norris

Book Overview

Theron Estes, upon returning home from a 90-day stint in jail, is dismayed to find his two young daughters home alone and a cryptic note from his wife: "I had enuff its your turn." Thus begins the title story of Helen Norris's new collection, a funny yet pathos-filled tale of Theron's bizarre attempt to secure Christmas dinner for his girls.

Norris is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary American fiction. Over a lifetime, she...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0817310290
• ISBN13: 9780817310295
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: University Alabama Press
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Norris is the South's best kept secret

In One Day in the Life of a Born Again Loser, Helen Norris at last allows her best kept secret to shine -- she's hilariously funny. Norris is Alabama's Poet Laureate and an enormously talented serious literary writer, but if you've ever sat down to lunch with her, what you'll remember is that she kept you laughing non-stop with wry observations, not-always-gentle little stories, and better one-liners than most comedians. This book is like that. Norris takes you into the lives of some basically sad people and turns their foibles and mischances into art. Underneath this little old southern lady is a toughness that breaks every stereotype, and wit and humor enough to fill many books. If you've never met Helen Norris, either in print or in person, you owe it to yourself to buy this book and get to know a genuine southern treasure. If you and she have been friends for years, I think you'll find that this new collection of short stories is her best ever.

Outstanding

This is a wonderful collection of stories. If you like William Trevor, if you like John Cheever, if you like Flannery O'Connor, then you will love Helen Norris. Her sentences read like poetry, and her stories, often humorous, are about people finding some small amount of redemption in their otherwise disappointing lives.