The Secret Society Of Demolition Writers

If no one knew who you were, what would you say? Twelve best-selling, critically acclaimed authors answer this question with an anonymous collection of no-holds-barred, entirely original stories.

The Secret Society of Demolition Writers is the literary equivalent of a whodunit, featuring an eclectic group of fictional characters. The cast includes a delusional schizophrenic narrator, an egg donor with second thoughts about her decision, a pharmacist who forms a weird crush on a woman who beat both of her parents to death, and a little girl who understands that an old safe is the threshold to another, ghostly world.

Equally diverse and surprising are the authors themselves: Aimee Bender, Benjamin Cheever, Michael Connelly, Sebastian Junger, Elizabeth McCracken, Rosie O'Donnell, Chris Offutt, Anna Quindlen, John Burnham Schwartz, Alice Sebold, Lauren Slater, and Marc Parent, the editor of the collection. Taking a cue from a demolition derby Parent visits every summer, he realized that if a group of talented writers could approach their work with the same anonymous abandon that the derby racers drove with, they could create works of fiction they've always dreamed of. Without the weight of reputation -with no names attached to their work -the writers are free explore and improvise. The result of Parent's idea is a group of reckless, smashing stories that have never been published before -the stories these writers have always wanted to tell.

Editorial Reviews

Instead of whodunit, this anthology of 12 anonymously penned short stories asks "who wrote it?" Parent gathers tales by well-known authors (including Aimee Bender, Michael Connelly, Sebastian Junger, Elizabeth McCracken, Anna Quindlen, Alice Sebold and himself) under the premise that freedom from reputation and byline leads to exciting storytelling. The device is intriguing-like a blind taste test-but potentially frustrating: the fun of the blind taste test, after all, is when you learn the name of your favorite flavor. And though many pieces deal with dark subjects, it's difficult to feel that anonymity has encouraged much authorial risk. A man falls in love with a women who's killed her parents; a father-to-be unleashes a ghost into the world; two young travelers are caught in a West African war. The finest story in the collection, "Wonderland," centers on a fashion magazine editor-"a fash-mag hag"-recalling a college affair with a custodian that led to unexpected consequences. The quality of the stories varies, but overall is high: why doesn't everyone just slap their names on what they wrote? Maybe because then it'd be just another anthology. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

About The Author:

Aimee Bender lives in Los Angeles. Her stories have appeared in "Granta," "GQ," "Harper's," "Fence," "Tin House," "Paris Review," and several other publications. She is the author of collection "The Girl in the Flammable Skirt" and "An Invisible Sign of My Own," her first novel.

MARC PARENT is the author of" Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk," a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize as well as a New Visions nominee and a NEBA Honorary Selection, and "Believing It All: What My Children Taught Me About Trout Fishing, Jelly Toast, and Life," He has written for The New York Times and USA Today, among other publications. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and three sons.

MICHAEL CONNELLY is a former journalist and the author of over a dozen bestselling books, including the Harry Bosch novels and Blood Work, which was a major motion picture. He has won numerous awards for his journalism, as well as an Edgar Award, a Nero Wolfe prize, a Macavity Award, and an Anthony Award for his books. Michael Connelly lives in Florida.

BENJAMIN CHEEVER has published in the "New York Times," the "New Yorker," "Gourmet," and "Runner's World," He has taught at Bennington College and The New School for Social Research. The author of the highly praised novels "The Plagiarist," "The Partisan," and "Famous After Death," and editor of "The Letters of John Cheever," he lives in Pleasantville, New York.

Sebastian Junger is the "New York Times" bestselling author of "A Death in Belmont and Fire". He is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, and has been awarded a National Magazine Award and an SAIS Novartis Prize for journalism. He lives in New York City.

Elizabeth McCracken is the recipient of the Harold Vursell Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the PEN/Winship Award. She has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, and Michener foundation, the Fine Arts Center in Provincetown, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She was also honored as one of "Granta's" 20 Best Writers Under 40.

Rosie O'donnell is the founder of Rosie's For All Kids Foundation, which supports early childhood care and education programs, as well as Rosie's Broadway Kids, a program that brings musical theater to New York City public school children. An Emmy Award winner, she is also a "New York Times" bestselling author and mother of four.

Chris Offutt grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky and has held more than fifty part-time jobs. For his first three books — "Kentucky Straight, The Same River Twice, " and "The Good Brother" — he received numerous awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Whiting Award. He currently lives in Iowa City, where he is a visiting professor at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Anna Quindlen is the author of three best-selling novels, Object Lessons, One True Thing, and Black and Blue. Her latest novel, Blessings, came out in 2002. Her New York Times column "Public and Private" won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992; a selection of those columns was published in the book Thinking Out Loud. She is also author of a collection of her "Life in the 30's" columns, Living Out Loud; a book for the Library of Contemporary Thought, How Reading Changed My Life; and two children's books, The Tree That Came to Stay and Happily Ever After. She is currently a columnist for Newsweek and resides with her husband and children in New York City.

Alice Sebold is a graduate of Syracuse University, and she received her MFA at the University of California, Irvine. She has made her living as a teacher and has also written for "The New York Times Magazine." She currently lives in southern California, where she is at work on her first novel.

Lauren Slater is a psychologist and the author of Welcome to My Country and Prozac Diary. She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

ALAN SKLAR has narrated over 75 audiobooks and earned numerous awards for his work. He has also provided the voice for thousands of corporate and medical videos, as well as many radio and TV commercials. He lives with his wife in New York.