The latest updates.
The blog Mirabile Dictu says: “The theme of money unifies Karen E. Bender’s extraordinary new collection of short stories, Refund…Bender’s style is forceful but simple as she shares her ironic, compassionate insights into money, security and family life.” You can read the whole review here.
The Billfold says: “Bender’s evocative prose takes us immediately to a place that we recognize, even if we haven’t yet lived there ourselves…I loved Refund. Highly recommended.” You can read the full review here.
The Boston Globe says: “The stories are replete with poignant, tragic moments…her graceful and sensitive treatment of her characters reminds us that in difficult times, it’s important to remember that everyone is fighting a hard battle.” You can read the rest of the review here.
For the week of January 12, 2015, Refund is a PW Picks: Books of the Week.
Booklist says: “Bender’s tales are stark, heart-wrenching, quirky….but they all work together, as Bender leads us to a unifying conclusion: you can’t put a price on human life or love.”
In a preview of Southern books in 2015, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says, “Money–how to obtain it, give it, earn it, lose it, even steal it–unites the stories in this masterful new collection. Bender (A Town of Empty Rooms) takes ripped-from-the-headlines subjects (9/11, foreclosures, autism, a school shooting) to show ordinary people in the process of making extraordinary decisions.”
People magazine says: “Bender probes the depths people will sink to for love and money in this poignant, absorbing collection of finance-themed tales. Worth investing time in.”
In the January, 2015 issue, O magazine reviews Refund: “Each day Bender’s cast of ordinary people struggle to make sense of their debts, their fears, and how to be satisfied with what they’ve got, in short stories that are both lean and expansive.”
In the December, 2014 issue, More magazine reviews Refund: “Stories about hustlers, heirs, wage slaves, moguls, and the newly impoverished. “Is this where my life has led?” asks a hard-up character. “Where do I go now?” A fictional bonanza for penny-pinching times.”
Thanks to PW for this beautiful review:
“The stories’ strengths stem from Bender’s beautiful writing and her ability to convey the wonder and dread of ordinary life, the things we might notice—whether with terror or with joy—if we weren’t too busy worrying about paying the bills.”
You can read the full review here.
“Every once in a while a book steps onto the stage and convinces readers all over again that literature is the great companion and interpreter of life. This is one of those books. In these eleven absolutely masterful stories by Karen E. Bender, the reader gets the most intimate education in politics, language, love, family. The book cares about every single idea it comes across— in a way it is political to the core. On the other hand, the writing is affectionate and attentive to the way life feels, to the way a phrase can grasp a moment so entirely. This is the book of the season, and the book everyone should read who wants to understand the depth and capability of the short story.” Rebecca Lee, author of Bobcat and The City Is A Rising Tide
“In an American moment where money rules and anxieties fester, Karen Bender has stepped in to tell all our stories with unsettling honesty, an eye for our absurdities, and an openness to the moments of grace that keep us going. Bender is a master storyteller and Refund is a superb collection.” –Tom Barbash, author of Stay Up With Me
A new short story, “For What Purpose?” is now up in the American Empires issue of Guernica magazine. The story is from my new collection, “Refund.” You can read the story here.
“The Emotional Power of Verbs,” which appeared in the Draft column last December, was noted in an online class taught by Susan Orlean in her Skillshare class. You can read about her class here.
Narrative.ly publishes my piece on Taiwan’s Homemakers’ Union Consumer Co-op. You can read the article here.