Book of the Week #18

Twenty Grand and Other Tales of Love and Money by Rebecca Curtis (NY: Harper Perennial, 2007)

Rebecca Curtis grew up in Gilford, New Hampshire and this collection of stories includes many that are set in the Granite State. The author describes -- in the about the author section at the back of the book -- how she wrote these stories:

"... when I wrote the stories in this book, each began with the desire to describe a place in New Hampshire that I knew, even if it was an ugly place. The setting for 'The Alpine Slide' is based on a local water park where I worked as a slide attendant, as did a bunch of other teenagers. That was the best job I ever had, working in the valley among the mountains, riding the slide; in writing the story, all I wanted to do was describe the park."

Also included in the back of the book is a compilation of some of the truly great highlights of New Hampshire, many of which are mentioned in the stories.

Ms. Curtis teaches creative writing at Columbia University and has been interviewed by Gothamist and Sunspinner. Twenty Grand won the New Hampshire Literary Award for Outstanding Work of Fiction, 2006-7.