WINNER OF THE 2021 JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY O MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORKER, THE WASHINGTON POST, REAL SIMPLE, THE GUARDIAN, AND MORE
FINALIST FOR: THE STORY PRIZE, THE L.A. TIMES BOOK PRIZE, THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE, THE CHAUTAUQUA PRIZE
“Sublime short stories of race, grief, and belonging . . . an extraordinary new collection . . .” —The New Yorker
“Evans’s new stories present rich plots reflecting on race relations, grief, and love . . .” —The New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice
“Danielle Evans demonstrates, once again, that she is the finest short story writer working today.” —Roxane Gay, The New York Times–bestselling author of Difficult Women and Bad Feminist
The award-winning author of Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self brings her signature voice and insight to the subjects of race, grief, apology, and American history.
Danielle Evans is widely acclaimed for her blisteringly smart voice and X-ray insights into complex human relationships. With The Office of Historical Corrections, Evans zooms in on particular moments and relationships in her characters’ lives in a way that allows them to speak to larger issues of race, culture, and history. She introduces us to Black and multiracial characters who are experiencing the universal confusions of lust and love, and getting walloped by grief—all while exploring how history haunts us, personally and collectively. Ultimately, she provokes us to think about the truths of American history—about who gets to tell them, and the cost of setting the record straight.
In “Boys Go to Jupiter,” a white college student tries to reinvent herself after a photo of her in a Confederate-flag bikini goes viral. In “Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain,” a photojournalist is forced to confront her own losses while attending an old friend’s unexpectedly dramatic wedding. And in the eye-opening title novella, a black scholar from Washington, DC, is drawn into a complex historical mystery that spans generations and puts her job, her love life, and her oldest friendship at risk.
As with any short story collection, some hit harder than others, but the majority drew me in. "Boys Go to Jupiter" kept revealing more layers that further complicated an already complicated narrator, and the ending had me so confounded, I forced Stephen to listen to my retelling of it so I could get his opinion. At first I thought "Why Won't Women Just Say What They Want" risked overplaying the satire of public performance of male forgiveness, but it felt so pitch perfect and the ending was like ... *chef's kiss*. And the titular story, "The Office of Historical Corrections," was beautiful, painful, and slightly absurd.
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
9 April, 2021:
Finished reading
-
9 April, 2021:
Reviewed