Editions

Because They Wanted To

  • Imprint: Penguin Classics

  • ISBN: 9780241464144

  • Length: 256  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 15mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 191g

  • RRP: £9.99

Because They Wanted To

'A perfectly formed set of stories about alienation in modern times' Independent
'Mesmerizing - almost ecstatic' The New York Times

Mary Gaitskill's coolly compelling, quietly devastating stories explore the messy complexity of relationships between lovers, families and friends. An unsettling encounter on a plane; a tentative affair between an older woman and a younger man; the chasm between a father and his daughter: each expresses our longing for, and our fear of, human connection.

  • Imprint: Penguin Classics

  • ISBN: 9780241464144

  • Length: 256  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 15mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 191g

  • RRP: £9.99

Reviews

  • I really admire how Mary Gaitskill is willing to think about the problematic with complexity and humanity, and without taking sides or engaging in all the fashionable moral hectoring that passes for serious thought these days.

    Eimear McBride

  • Gaitskill shares Edith Wharton's forensic awareness of what happens just beneath the surface of high-toned encounters in public places

    Independent

  • Gaitskill's brand of brainy lyricism, of acid shot through with grace, is unlike anyone else's. And it constitutes some of the most incisive fiction writing around

    Meghan O'Rourke, New York Times Book Review

  • What makes her exciting is her ability to evoke the hidden life, the life unseen, the life we don't even know we are living.

    Parul Sehgal, The New York Times Magazine

More in this Series

View all View all
View all View all

About the Author

Mary Gaitskill

Mary Gaitskill is the author of the story collections Bad Behavior, Because They Wanted To (nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award), and Don't Cry, the novels The Mare, Veronica (nominated for the National Book Award), Two Girls, Fat and Thin, and a collection of essays, Somebody with A Little Hammer. Her stories and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, Harper's, Artforum, and Granta, among many other journals, as well as in The Best American Short Stories and The O. Henry Prize Stories.

Mary Gaitskill

Read more

/content/dam/prh/articles/adults/2020/november/Main-Why-Writers-Love-Cats.jpg

Features

A short history of literature's love affair with cats

Authors have long enjoyed the company of four-legged friends. But what is it about them that make such good writing companions?

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience. For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.