Touchy Subjects

Description

How do you make conversation with a sperm donor How do you say someone's novel is drivel Would you give a screaming baby brandy In what words would you tell your girlfriend to pluck a hair on her chin Touchy Subjects is about things that make people wince: taboos, controversies, secrets and lies. Some of the events that characters crash into are grand, tragic ones: miscarriage, overdose, missing persons, a mother who deserts her children. Other topics, like religion and money, are not inherently taboo, but they can cause acute discomfort because people disagree so vehemently. Many of these stories are about the spectrum of constrained, convoluted feeling that runs from awkwardness through embarrassment to shame.

Emma Donoghue is an Irish novelist, playwright and historian. Her second novel HOOD won the American Library Association Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Award in 1997. She is currently adapting her novel STIR-FRY for Horizonline Films (Ireland).

"All of Donoghue's stories are lucid and well paced...written over a number of years, these stories demonstrate considerable versatility...It's evident she likes her characters, and you probably will too."--Tibor Fischer"New York Times" (09/17/2006) "All of Donoghue''s stories are lucid and well paced...written over a number of years, these stories demonstrate considerable versatility...It''s evident she likes her characters, and you probably will too."--Tibor Fischer"New York Times" (09/17/2006) PRAISE FOR TOUCHY SUBJECTS"Lucid, concise, clever and poignant. Roaming the globe, from many walks of life, bearing their painful and wonderful aspects alike, Donoghue's characters will remind readers of themselves in the here and now."--THE MIAMI HERALD"Touchy Subjects parades a variety of styles, but I'd say Donoghue's greatest talent is for humor . . . Written over a number of years, these stories demonstrate considerable versatility."--THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW "Lucid contemporary takes in a variety of styles, with humor ascendant." (Editors'' Choice) "Virtually every tale in TOUCHY SUBJECTS is lucid, concise, clever and poignant. Roaming the globe, from many walks of life, bearing their painful and wonderful aspects alike, Donoghue''s characters will remind readers of themselves in the here and now."