Anything Is Possible (book)

Wikipedia

Anything Is Possible
First edition
AuthorElizabeth Strout
LanguageEnglish
Set inAmgash, Illinois
Published2017
PublisherRandom House
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint, e-book, audiobook
AwardsThe Story Prize
Preceded byMy Name Is Lucy Barton 
Followed byOh William! 

Anything Is Possible is a 2017 novel of related short stories by the American author Elizabeth Strout.[1][2] The novel returns to the fictional rural town of Amgash, Illinois, which is the protagonist's hometown in Strout's 2016 novel My Name Is Lucy Barton.[3] Former U.S. President Barack Obama included Anything Is Possible on a list of the best books he read in 2017.[4] Anything is Possible won The Story Prize, a book award for short story collections.[5]

Contents

Story Originally published in
"The Sign" Original
"Windmills" Original
"Cracked" Original
"The Hit-Thumb Theory" Original
"Mississippi Mary" Original
"Sister" Original
"Dottie's Bed & Breakfast" Original
"Snow-Blind" Virginia Quarterly Review
"Gift" Original

Reception

NPR's Heller McAlpin praised Strout as a master of the novel-in-stories form, with each short story filling in a piece of her “gracefully constructed narrative puzzle.”[2]

Writing for The New York Times, Jennifer Senior said, “Strout was born to be an omniscient narrator, born to flit and swoop from one crooked perch to the next.”[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Senior, Jennifer (April 26, 2017). "Elizabeth Strout's Lovely New Novel Is a Requiem for Small-Town Pain". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  2. 1 2 McAlpin, Heller (April 25, 2017). "'Anything Is Possible' Is Unafraid To Be Gentle". NPR. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  3. Jordison, Sam (September 25, 2017). "Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout review – a moving return to the midwest". The Guardian. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  4. Liptak, Kevin; Zaru, Deena (December 31, 2017). "Obama lists his favorite books, songs of 2017". CNN. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  5. John McMurtrie (February 28, 2018). "Elizabeth Strout wins Story Prize for 'Anything Is Possible". San Francisco Chronicle.