Jane Ciabattari
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"Ciabattari is a master of transformation as she gives these stories of loss, woe, crisis and collapse the salutary and sometimes bracing pleasures of plain good fiction."--Kirkus Reviews
"Tales filled with second guesses that enable the reader to come away appreciating how choice and chance affect the human experience. Writers and readers of literary fiction will enjoy these stories."--Library Journal"Jane Ciabattari's storiesaren't so much read as they are absorbed. She envelops you--in a place, in someone's head--surrounds you with vivid detail, and isn't afraid to look into the dark corners to reveal things we might not want to look at...Each story is a journey for both the characters and the reader, one that can be taken many times, just as a poem can be read over and over for ever deeper meaning. It's worth putting aside the latest blockbuster to make room for the gentle fierceness of Ms. Ciabattari's writing."--The Easthampton Star
"Ciabattari displays a deft sense of control throughout, and is equally sensitive to male protagonists. This book makes a strong first step toward earning both and audience and critical praise for Ciabattari."--Publishers Weekly |
Book"STEALING THE FIRE"
In her first collection, award winning writer Jane Ciabattari explores the aftershocks of life changes—the loss of a father, a husband, an unborn child, an all-consuming job—and the illuminations that make hope possible. Set in Central America, Montauk, Montreal, New York City, Northern California and Vancouver, these haunting stories throb with the joys and pains of real life.  Stealing the Fire "STEALING THE FIRE""If the stories in Jane Ciabattari's collection have a connecting thread, it is a thematic one: the pain of loss in all its forms. This is not to say that a black cloud hovers over them. In fact, there is something vivifying and hopeful that infuses them, as well. Nor do they seem like case studies in a psychotherapist's journal of treatment. They are acutely perceived and well-told tales that have the breath of life in them. These stories are not thinly disguised autobiography...Protagonists are men and women, young and old, from all walks of life and every part of the country. One cannot but be impressed with how vividly each comes to life. There is not one story that does not in some way satisfy the centuries-old need for narrative. Nor is there one story that does not succeeed on some level... Ciabattari's prose is as clear as a pane of glass, Orwell's concept of what a writer should strive for. But she has a gift for the telling phrase. This is a collection of great emotional power and depth."--The Southampton Press |
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