Introduction

In her latest stories, Antonya Nelson sets her characters in the middle of the country, at the edge of reason. In the title story, a depressed mother follows her delinquent son from juvenile court to the maternity ward, shocked when teenage fatherhood turns his life around. In “Party of One,” a woman tries to protect her suicidal sister from a painful breakup, while hiding a dark secret of her own. “Falsetto” also features a protective sister, who learns a lot from her adolescent brother in the wake of a tragic accident. In “People People,” a married woman discovers her own insecurities while trying to shelter her obese, romantically destructive sister. In “Biodegradable,” a traveling businesswoman finds a romantic connection unexpectedly close to home. “Or Else” and “OBO” both feature desperate characters trying to lie their way into tight-knit, nuclear families, with unexpected results. In “Kansas” and “We and They,” bohemian Wichita families cope with unexpected challenges: a kidnapping within the family in the first story, and an unexpected alliance with religious neighbors in the latter. “DWI” and “Shauntrelle” both take place in the aftermath of a romantic affair: In “DWI,” a woman copes with her lover’s suicide, and “Shauntrelle” features an unlikely female alliance in the wake of a failed marriage and love affair.

In Nothing Right, human relationships—between lovers, spouses, siblings, and parents and children—are laid bare, revealing the fundamental vulnerabilities we all share.

Editorial Review

No editorial review at this time.

Excerpt

NOTHING RIGHT

Never shake a baby,” the flyer insisted, “Never, never,

never.”The public service brochures displayed at the district

attorney’s office seemed to be speaking to Hannah, each

pertinent and personal.The face on “Break the cycle of domestic

violence” was one big yellow-blue bruise. “Substance abuse

abuses us all,” another insisted, a martini glass with a slash

through it. The illustration was so highly detailed as to include

a toothpick-speared olive.

Her fifteen-year-old son had demanded that Hannah wait

rather than join him and his probation officer. Down the hall,

a door banged open, a courtroom released. A young man in

an orange jumpsuit emerged between two older, somber men,

trailed by weeping women. His lawyers, his guards, his mother,

sister, girlfriend. Like the brochures, this scene also seemed

a warning; Hannah had passed from one kind of life into

another. A small boy brought up the rear of the procession,

one hand hitching his pants, one swiping at his running nose.

Hannah felt close to bursting into tears. Ten years from now,

that little boy would be wearing the jumpsuit, leading the pack.

Her own son seemed poised somewhere between these two,

teetering.

“Ma,” he brayed, suddenly beside her, nudging to indicate

that his appointment had ended, they were free to go. Still

free, Hannah thought, and her mood lifted.

“You take us to the most interesting places,” she said as

they exited the courthouse. This had been the third required

monthly meeting since he’d made a bomb threat at school.

Beside her, passing through the metal detectors, Leo pulled in

a savoring breath. “Good times,” he murmured. He’d been to

jail, he’d worn handcuffs. He had a psychologist, a lawyer, and

a probation officer; this current round of meetings was part of

something called “diversion,” and maybe it was sort of amusing.

Leo’s delinquency had to become something else, Hannah

supposed, having already been terrifying, divisive, pricey, and

heartbreaking.

He was her second son, and he’d never been the one she understood

best. Recently, she’d found herself disgusted by him:

she didn’t want to share a bathroom or kitchen, bar soap or

utensils with her own boy. His brother, who’d passed through

adolescence sobbing instead of shouting, had not prepared her

for Leo. The pure ugliness of a more traditional male’s transformation

to manhood—the inflamed skin and foul odor, the

black scowl, the malice in every move—might eventually convince

a parent to despair, to say to that child, “You are dead to

me.” Because it would be easier—more decorous, acceptable—

to mourn the loss than to keep waging a hopeless battle.

Their next stop was Wichita Central High School.

“Leo’s mother,” the PE coach greeted her. He was precisely

as billed: soldierlike, down to the bullet-shaped shaved head

and stiff-armed formality. “G.I. Joe,” her son called him. In

his first-period class, Leo had recently pierced his own lip with a safety pin. In the divot beneath his nose, a pulsing

bump he’d tried to pass off as a bug bite and then a pimple.

Finally he’d just shown up at breakfast with the pin hanging

there, clicking against his cereal spoon. A parent was required

to come pay penance, help reclaim the old gymnasium. The

smell alone could have brought back adolescence—sweat,

fried food, patchouli—but this was also the high school Hannah

had attended. Back then, this had been Central’s only

gym. In the years since, groups would intermittently creak

open the metal doors and throw a party or host a science fair.

The drama club had contributed a couple of sofas.Windows,

metal-barred and streaked with pigeon droppings, let through

a gloomy cold light; voices echoed. Hannah had played basketball

here, once upon a time. More recently, her first son

had acted in plays on the very stage that, today, G.I. Joe would

lead the group in dismantling.

“Leo’s mother, meet Dylan’s father.” Several fathers, Reagan’s,

Meagan’s, Dusty’s, and Jordan’s; a roomful of uncomfortable

men, glancing around with their hands jammed in

their pockets, awaiting instruction. Hannah couldn’t help prescribing

makeovers for everyone. First, twenty pounds off each,

that defeated weight of middle age, of parenthood.Next: therapy

and SSRIs, all around. Hannah knew that whatever she

saw as deficits in these people, they themselves recognized.

They, too, wished not to seem sad and skittish. They wished

they were trim and brave and confident. They wished they

were young—not as young as their offspring, these children,

clustered and glowering fifty paces away, also in the proverbial

doghouse—but younger than their forty or fifty years. They

knew their best years had passed, that they’d been sapped of

something vital, and now could only make futile guesses at

how to get it back. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the Publisher:

1. How does “Nothing Right,” the title story and the first in the collection, set the scene for the rest of the book? What themes, relationships, and problems in “Nothing Right” are echoed in later stories?

2. “We and They” and “Nothing Right” both revolve around an unexpected teenage pregnancy. How are the young couples’ circumstances similar and different in each story? Which pregnancy seems to have a better result for the families involved?

3. All of the stories in Nothing Right take place in the Midwest or Southwest. In which of the stories is the setting particularly important? Which stories especially conjure up a room, a house, a city, or a landscape?

4. In “Party of One,” Nicholas Dempsey goes from thinking sisters Mona and Emily are strikingly similar, to thinking they’re nothing alike. What changes Nicholas’s mind? What similarities and differences between the sisters are invisible to Nicholas?

5. Discuss the effects of secrets and lies in the story “OBO.” Who is the most duplicitous and who is the most truthful among the story’s four main characters, Abby, Lucia, Michael, and Christine? What secrets are hidden within the Bonatello family home in Wichita?

6. In “Falsetto,” Michelle sees a reflection of herself, her brother Ellton, and her boyfriend Max, and “Just that quick, she quit loving her boyfriend.” (88) What brings about Michelle’s sudden change of heart? How does her decision affect her relationship with her brother?

7. Pairs of adult sisters are prominent in the stories “Party of One,” “Kansas,” and “People People.” Compare the relationships in each of these stories. How do these sisters by turns help and hurt each other? Which sisters seem to have the healthiest sibling bond? Which have the most destructive?

8. Much of the action in “Kansas” takes place on the family’s cell phones. How does each family member use the family cell plan? What cracks and fissures in the family are revealed by this collective plan?

9. Discuss the influence of déjà vu in “Biodegradable.” What encounters and relationships seem to repeat themselves over the course of the story?

10. In “Shauntrelle,” Constance compares Fanny Mann’s first impressions to her own: Fanny Mann appears warm, while Constance appears cold. When do these impressions appear true? When do the two women seem to switch warm and cold roles?

11. In both “Or Else” and “OBO,” a character lies to gain entry into another family’s home. Compare and contrast David’s and Abby’s motivations for deceit. Which character’s reasons for lying seem more justifiable? Which liar appears more desperate by the end of the story?

12. “Or Else” ends on a question, as Danielle and David stand outside the Hart house: “Danielle asked [David], “Do you wish you were in there, instead of out here?” (239) Does David’s negative response feel like another lie, the beginning of a truth, or a combination of the two? Why does the story end on this uncertain note?

13. Adultery takes place frequently in Nothing Right; many of the characters are beginning, ending, or negotiating an affair. Discuss how Nelson portrays adultery in each story. On the whole, does she seem to humanize or demonize these sexual impulses? Explain.

14. In many of these stories, dead lovers or relatives have a strong hold on living characters. Which characters seem mostly motivated by grief? Which characters seem able to overcome their losses?

15. If you’ve read Nelson’s stories or novels before, how does Nothing Right compare to her previous work? If you’re new to Nelson’s short stories, which made the strongest impression?

16. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “Nelson, an astute observer of everyday conflicts, has skillfully mapped out life in this unforgettable collection, and sooner or later a reader will run into herself in a story, the character’s troubles as real as the reader’s own.” Did you find a version of yourself in any of Nelson’s characters? If so, which character spoke to you?

Weblinks

»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Full Excerpt

Book Club Recommendations

Recommended to book clubs by 0 of 0 members.

Member Reviews

There are no user reviews at this time.
Rate this book