Yonnondio from the Thirties - Softcover

Pillars of American literature, these two newly repackaged titles have been loved and admired by readers for decades. Set during the Depression, Yonnondio : From The Thirties is the timeless and hauntingly timely story of the Holbrook family, struggling for a more tolerable existence. Written by the author in the 1930s and rediscovered by her in the 1970s, Yonnondio will always be an unfinished work that makes us long for more of that young author's brilliance. This reissue presents newly discovered fragments and scenes that satisfy some of that longing and give a more complete picture of the fate of the mother, Anna, one of literature's most believable and enduring woman. Tell Me A Riddle is a collection of four stories: "I Stand Here Ironing," "Hey Sailor, What Ship?," "O Yes," and the title novella, which won the O. Henry Award in 1961. Anthologized over a hundred times, the stories live on in the hearts of readers everywhere. John Leonard provides a new introduction that is a personal reminiscence as well as reaffirmation of Olsen's place in American literature's pantheon of great writers.

Tillie Olsen, winner of the 1994 Rae Award for the Short Story, was born in Nebraska in 1912. A Depression-era high school dropout, public libraries were her college. She wrote and published when young, but the necessity of raising and supporting four children through "everyday jobs" silenced her for twenty years. The recipient of six honorary degrees and many other awards, she has taught or been writer-in-residence at M.I.T., Amherst College, and Stanford University, among others. She lives in San Francisco.