Now available in Eccoâs Art of the Story series: a never-before-published collection of stories from a brilliant yet little known African American artist and filmmakerâa contemporary of revered writers including Toni Cade Bambara, Laurie Colwin, Ann Beattie, Amy Hempel, and Grace Paleyâwhose prescient work has recently resurfaced to wide acclaim.
Humorous, poignant, perceptive, and full of grace, Kathleen Collinsâs stories masterfully blend the quotidian and the profound in a personal, intimate way, exploring deep, far-reaching issuesârace, gender, family, and sexualityâthat shape the ordinary moments in our lives.
In âThe Uncle,â a young girl who idolizes her handsome uncle and his beautiful wife makes a haunting discovery about their lives. In âOnly Once,â a woman reminisces about her charming daredevil of a lover and his ultimateâand finalâact of foolishness. Collinsâs work seamlessly integrates the African-American experience in her charactersâ lives, creating rich, devastatingly familiar, full-bodied men, women, and children who transcend the symbolic, penetrating both the readerâs head and heart.
Both contemporary and timeless, Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? is a major addition to the literary canon, and is sure to earn Kathleen Collins the widespread recognition she is long overdue.