Tell Me a Riddle, Requa I, and Other Works
- 163 pages
- 6 hours of reading
A collection of works, both fictional and non-fictional, gathered together here for the first time --
Tillie Olsen Book order
Tillie Olsen was an American writer whose work powerfully and influentially explored the lives of women and the poor. She drew attention to the barriers women faced in pursuing literary publication and recognition. Olsen's distinctive style, often compared to poetry for its compression and clarity, combined with content rooted in political and social turmoil, secured her a significant place in feminist literature. Her writing opened new possibilities for women authors and continues to spark discussions about the complex influences that shaped her literary thought.
- 2013
- 2008
Tell Me A Riddle And Yonnondio
- 336 pages
- 12 hours of reading
Two classics of American literature from one of the twentieth century's most gifted writers
- 2004
Yonnondio follows the heartbreaking path of the Holbrook family in the late 1920s and the Great Depression as they move from the coal mines of Wyoming to a tenant farm in western Nebraska, ending up finally on the kill floors of the slaughterhouses and in the wretched neighborhoods of the poor in Omaha, Nebraska. Mazie, the oldest daughter in the growing family of Jim and Anna Holbrook, tells the story of the family's desire for a better life – Anna's dream that her children be educated and Jim's wish for a life lived out in the open, away from the darkness and danger of the mines. At every turn in their journey, however, their dreams are frustrated, and the family is jeopardized by cruel and indifferent systems.
- 1978
Silences
- 326 pages
- 12 hours of reading
First published in 1978, "Silences "single-handedly revolutionized the literary canon. In this classic work, now back in print, Olsen broke open the study of literature and discovered a lost continent-the writing of women and working-class people. From the excavated testimony of authors' letters and diaries we learn the many ways the creative spirit, especially in those disadvantaged by gender, class and race, can be silenced. Olsen recounts the torments of Melville, the crushing weight of criticism on Thomas Hardy, the shame that brought Willa Cather to a dead halt, and struggles of Virginia Woolf, Olsen's heroine and greatest exemplar of a writer who confronted the forces that would silence her. This 25th-anniversary edition includes Olsen's now infamous reading lists of forgotten authors and a new introduction and author preface.
