Despite the rustic charm of their settings, the bitingly humorous
short stories of Dorothy Thomas (1898-1990) challenge stereotypes
of good-hearted country people-a harried woman tries to rid herself
of her impertinent son as he refuses to cooperate with her plans to
leave him and his father for another man; an old woman given a late
second chance to marry the man she loves loses out once more
because of her literal mindedness; a child's fib grows into a
detailed fiction leading one family to embarrassment and another to
stretch beyond their means; and two little girls with childish
ingenuity foil their step-mother's opportunity for a romantic fling
when their father is away.
In these twelve stories Thomas is most concerned with the flaws
in familial relationships, but her analysis never turns bitter.
Thomas used what she called "telling detail" to animate her
characters as they repeatedly trump their family's needs with their
own desires, and children are often the most prescient of all about
the self-destructive plans of the adults around them.
Dorothy Thomas dropped out of high school and taught school in
Scottsbluff, Nebraska, to help support her family. While living in
western Nebraska, she began to write short stories inspired by the
insights afforded by her position as a live-in teacher in the homes
of her students. She began to publish her stories in magazines such
as the "New Yorker" and "Atlantic Monthly" and eventually gave up
teaching to write full time. She also published two books--"Ma
Jeeter's Girls" and "The Home Place," both available in Bison Books
edition--and became part of the writing community centered around
the literary magazine "Prairie Schooner."
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