Lori Ostlund - The Bigness of the World

Many of these stories have appeared, sometimes in slightly different form, in other publications. I would like to acknowledge and thank them: “The Bigness of the World” in Bellingham Review (2009); “Bed Death” in The Kenyon Review (2009); “Talking Fowl with My Father” in New England Review (2009); “The Day You Were Born,” New World Writing (2011); “Nobody Walks to the Mennonites” in Blue Mesa Review (2007); “Upon Completion of Baldness” in Hobart (2009); “And Down We Went” in Five Chapters (2009); “Idyllic Little Bali” in Prairie Schooner (2009); “Dr. Daneau’s Punishment” in The Georgia Review (2009); “The Children Beneath the Seat” in New England Review (2006); and “All Boy” in New England Review (2009); the latter was reprinted in Best American Short Stories 2010 ; “Bed Death” was selected for The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2011 . I have appreciated the careful attention that the editors at these publications have brought to my work; I would especially like to thank Carolyn Kuebler and Stephen Donadio at New England Review, who were the first to publish a story from this collection back in 2006 and have lent support in many ways.

I am also indebted to friends and family in various places, including though by no means limited to the following: New Mexico, where I wrote half of these stories; San Francisco, where I wrote the other half; and Minnesota, where I grew up in a town of four hundred people, an experience that shaped me as a writer. Specifically, I thank friends who provided feedback, enthusiasm, and fodder. They know who they are.

Also, many of the stories are set in countries where I have either lived or traveled. I appreciate the tremendous hospitality that was shown me in these countries.

Finally, I am grateful most of all to my partner of many years, the novelist Anne Raeff. Kurt Vonnegut said, “Every successful creative person creates with an audience of one in mind.” Anne has always been my one .

© DENNIS HEARNE

LORI OSTLUND’s collection of stories, The Bigness of the World , received the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the California Book Award for First Fiction, and the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. It was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, was a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and was named a Notable Book by The Story Prize. Her stories have appeared in The Best American Short Stories and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories , among other places. In 2009, Lori received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. She lives in San Francisco.

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