All Roads: Stories - Paperback

by Colleen O'Brien (Author)

The fourteen stories in All Roads explore childhood trauma, addiction, and the reckless materialism of mainstream American culture. Set mostly in Chicago, the stories range from the perspective of a nine-year-old girl intensely observing her new stepmother to a woman trying to make sense of her body after cancer surgery. The collection offers a complex and candid view of class privilege, gender oppression, and the idiosyncratic forms of refuge we take in a culture that demands our self-objectification.

In "Charlie," a new mother tells the story of her confusing attachment to a former mentor, uncovering the deep pain that has largely defined her life. In "The Fathers," an awkward bachelor party leads to an unexpected moment of overdue connection between the bride's father and brothers. The title story tracks the drunken monologue of a nihilistic middle-aged man attempting to seduce a young woman into a threesome, while "The Deal" alternates perspectives between a cynical divorced woman and her adult son, the only person with whom she's been able to sustain a lasting relationship. Relentlessly self-revealing, these characters vacillate between vulnerability and self-protection, exposing the necessity of both. Dark, comic, and altogether unforgettable, All Roads introduces an original voice attuned to the docility of the stingray as well as the ancient spear of its tail.

Author Biography

COLLEEN O'BRIEN is originally from Chicago. Her short fiction has appeared in the Gettysburg Review, the Antioch Review, North American Review, and other magazines. She won a Pushcart Prize for her story "Charlie," which is anthologized in Pushcart XLV (2020). Her poetry chapbook, Spool in the Maze, won the DIAGRAM/New Michigan Prize, and she was a finalist in the 2021 National Poetry Series Open Competition. Her poems can be found in Fence, Kenyon Review Online, Denver Quarterly, and elsewhere. She recently worked as a staff writer for the HBO Max adaptation of the novel Station Eleven.