1978 stated first edition. hardcover.

Blue in Chicago

Literature & Fiction

Howland, Bette

Contemporary

Harpercollins

Three stories of endurance, fidelity, and compassion reveal the emotional content of the lives of ordinary men and women and illuminate the extraordinary in the simple

Things to Come and Go

KNOPF

Viking Adult

A Booklist Best New Book A Vogue.com Best Book A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book of 2019 A Kirkus 2019 Best Fiction Chicago Tribune Notable Book of 2019 "Loving, lacerating sketches." ―Harper's Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage restores to the literary canon an extraordinarily gifted writer, who was recognized as a major talent before all but disappearing from public view for decades, until nearly the end of her life. Bette Howland herself was an outsider―an intellectual from a working-class neighborhood in Chicago; a divorcée and single mother, to the disapproval of her family; an artist chipped away at by poverty and perfection. Each of these facets plays a central role in her work. Mining her deepest emotions for her art, she chronicles the tension of her generation. Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage introduces a new generation of readers to a wry, brilliant observer and a writer of great empathy and sly, joyous humor.

Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage: The Selected Stories of Bette Howland

United States

A Public Space Books

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin―real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business; time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life could begin. At last it had dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.” From the author of the acclaimed collection Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage comes W-3, the account of a brilliant mind on the brink. In 1968, Bette Howland was thirty-one, a single mother of two young sons, struggling to support her family on the part-time salary of a librarian; and laboring day and night at her typewriter to be a writer. One afternoon, while staying at her friend Saul Bellow’s apartment, she swallowed a bottle of pills. W-3 is both an extraordinary portrait of the community of Ward 3, the psychiatric wing of the Chicago hospital where she was admitted; and record of a defining moment in a writer’s life. The book itself would be her salvation: she wrote herself out of the grave. First published in 1974, the memoir that launched Bette Howland’s career is being reissued as part of A Public Space’s ongoing revival of “one of the significant writers of her generation.” (Saul Bellow)

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

The acclaimed collection that restored to the literary canon "a long-overlooked artist of live-wire incisiveness, shredding wit, and improbable beauty."\nCalm Sea and Prosperous Voyage restores to the literary canon an extraordinarily gifted writer, who was recognized as a major talent, with Guggenheim and MacArthur “genius” fellowships, before all but disappearing from public view for decades, until nearly the end of her life when her work was rediscovered.\nBette Howland herself was an outsider: an intellectual from a working-class neighborhood in Chicago; a divorcée and single mother, to the disapproval of her family; an artist chipped away at by poverty and perfection. Each of these facets plays a central role in her work. Mining her deepest emotions for her art, she chronicles the tensions of her generation―and her native city―with a flair for language in the tradition of Lucia Berlin, Kathleen Collins, and Grace Paley. Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage introduces a new generation of readers to a wry, brilliant observer and a writer of great empathy and sly, joyous humor. With an afterword by Honor Moore.

Literary

About the Author\nBette Howland (1937-2017) was born in Chicago. She published three books in her lifetime: W-3, and the story collections Blue in Chicago and Things to Come and Go. She received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1984, after which she did not publish another book. A posthumous collection of her stories, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, is also available from A Public Space Books.\nRumaan Alam is the author of Rich and Pretty, That Kind of Mother, and Leave the World Behind. He lives in New York City.\nFrom the acclaimed author of Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage and the memoir W-3, a trio of novellas about three women’s bold exploration of the desire for belonging as it comes into conflict with the fulfillment of our individual selves. With an introduction by Rumaan Alam.\nOver the past several years, A Public Space has brought the work of Bette Howland back into print. First published in 1983, Things to Come and Go is her final book, and a showcase of her stunning talent—the razor-sharp observations, the elusive narrators, the language at once experimental and classical.\nNearly forty years later, it’s writing that “feel[s] revelatory and imperative to the work we might all be trying to make next” (Lynn Steger Strong).

'One of the significant writers of her generation.' Saul Bellow'Her prose is cooler than a cocktail and sharper than a Japanese knife . . . Nora Ephron meets Lorrie Moore, which is about as good as it gets.' Observer'We should be glad to have her back . . . Howland has the pinpoint vision that can make any sentence into a jewel' The TimesBlue in Chicago brings together the bittersweet short stories of the remarkable American writer Bette Howland. Hailed as a major talent before all but disappearing from public view, this tenderly compiled collection restores her vital voice to our shelves.Bette Howland was an outsider: an intellectual from a working-class neighborhood in Chicago; a divorcee and single mother, to the disapproval of her Jewish family; an artist chipped away at by poverty and self-doubt. Her stories radiate a passionate commitment to the lives of ordinary people and the humble grace of everyday.From city streets to the hospital to the public library to the mundane family outing, her sly humour, aching melancholy and tender insight illuminate every page. Here is an astonishing literary voice rediscovered.Blue in Chicago features an afterword by Honor Moore and was published in the US under the title Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage.'Beautifully bittersweet . . . funny, ruefully poetic and effortlessly perceptive.' Daily Mail'Remarkable . . . Captivating writing: rhythmic, alert, empathetic . . . I havent enjoyed another book more this year.' Telegraph'Profound . . . To read Bette Howland is to be handed a gift you didn't know you needed.' Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch

Blue In Chicago

World Literature

Picador

'One of the significant writers of her generation.' Saul Bellow\n'Her prose is cooler than a cocktail and sharper than a Japanese knife . . . Nora Ephron meets Lorrie Moore, which is about as good as it gets.' Rachel Cooke, Observer\n'We should be glad to have her back . . . Howland has the pinpoint vision that can make any sentence into a jewel.' John Self, The Times\nBlue in Chicago brings together the bittersweet short stories of the remarkable American writer Bette Howland. Hailed as a major talent before all but disappearing from public view, this tenderly compiled collection restores her vital voice to our shelves.\nBette Howland was an outsider: an intellectual from a working-class neighborhood in Chicago; a divorcee and single mother, to the disapproval of her Jewish family; an artist chipped away at by poverty and self-doubt. Her stories radiate a passionate commitment to the lives of ordinary people and the humble grace of everyday.\nFrom city streets to the hospital to the public library to the mundane family outing, her sly humour, aching melancholy and tender insight illuminate every page. Here is an astonishing literary voice rediscovered.\nBlue in Chicago features an afterword by Honor Moore and was published in the US under the title Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage.\n'Beautifully bittersweet . . . funny, ruefully poetic and effortlessly perceptive.' Daily Mail\n'Captivating writing: rhythmic, alert, empathetic . . . I haven’t enjoyed another book more this year.' Telegraph\n'Profound . . . To read Bette Howland is to be handed a gift you didn't know you needed.' Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch

Blue in Chicago: And Other Stories

'W-3 is one hell of a debut' Lucy Scholes, Paris Review\n'At moments dazzlingly and daringly written' Rachel Cook, Guardian\n'Howland is finally getting the recognition that she deserves' Sarah Hughes, iNews\nW-3 is a small psychiatric ward in a large university hospital, a world of pills and passes dispensed by an all-powerful staff, a world of veteran patients with grab-bags of tricks, a world of disheveled, moment-to-moment existence on the edge of permanence.\nBette Howland was one of those patients. In 1968, Howland was thirty-one, a single mother of two young sons, struggling to support her family on the part-time salary of a librarian; and labouring day and night at her typewriter to be a writer. One afternoon, while staying at her friend Saul Bellow’s apartment, she swallowed a bottle of pills. W-3 is both an extraordinary portrait of the community of Ward 3 and a record of a defining moment in a writer’s life. The book itself would be her salvation: she wrote herself out of the grave.\nThis beautiful edition features an original introduction by Yiyun Li, author of Where Reasons End.\n‘For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin―real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business; time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life could begin. At last it had dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.’

W-3: A Memoir

Arts & Literature

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Howland, Bette. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Howland, Bette

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Howland, Bette. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Blue in Chicago

Things to Come and Go

W-3

Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage: The Selected Stories of Bette Howland

W-3

Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage: The Selected Stories of Bette Howland

Things to Come and Go

Blue In Chicago

Blue in Chicago: And Other Stories

W-3: A Memoir