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Midge Raymond
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Forgetting English Paperback – March 22, 2011

by Midge Raymond (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 11 ratings
See all formats and editions
In this new, expanded edition of her prize-winning collection, Midge Raymond explores the indelible imprint of home upon the self and the ways in which new frontiers both defy and confirm who we are. Including new stories, Forgetting English takes us around the world, from the stark, icy moonscape of Antarctica to the lonely islands of the South Pacific, introducing us to characters who have abandoned their native landscapes only to find that, once separated from the ordinary, they must confront new interpretations of who they are, and who they are meant to be.

"Raymond's prose often lights up the poetry-circuits of the brain, less because of lyrical language and more due to things that work as both literal and symbolic nouns: stolen rings, voice-mail messages gone astray, heavy-footed humans in the middle of fragile habitats." -- The Seattle Times

"All of her stories are heartbreakingly honest ... I wouldn't be surprised if she started getting compared to Alice Munro or Jhumpa Lahiri." -- The Seattle Books Examiner

"Raymond's style of writing is engaging, her locations exotic, her endings are often resonant and deftly written, and what her stories express about travel and exploration is honest and forthright." -- The Short Review

"Raymond has quiet, unrelenting control over the writing; each story is compelling and thrives because each detail and line of dialogue reveals just a little more about the characters and the evocative settings."  -- The Rumpus
Previous page
  1. Print length
    164 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Press 53
  4. Publication date
    March 22, 2011
  5. Dimensions
    5.98 x 0.38 x 9.02 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1935708384
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1935708384
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Raymond's prose often lights up the poetry-circuits of the brain." -- Seattle Times

"Raymond has quiet, unrelenting control over the writing; each story is compelling and thrives because each detail and line of dialogue reveals just a little more about the characters and the evocative settings." -- The Rumpus

"All of her stories are heartbreakingly honest ... I wouldn't be surprised if she started getting compared to Alice Munro or Jhumpa Lahiri." -- Seattle Books Examiner

About the Author

Midge Raymond's short-story collection, Forgetting English, received the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction. Her stories have appeared in TriQuarterly, American Literary Review, Indiana Review, North American Review, Bellevue Literary Review, the Los Angeles Times magazine, and many other publications. Her work has been nominated for three Pushcart Prizes and received an Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission Fellowship.

Midge taught communication writing at Boston University for six years, and she has taught creative writing at Boston's Grub Street Writers and Seattle's Richard Hugo House. While living in Southern California, she held writing workshops and seminars at San Diego Writers, Ink, where she also served as vice president of the board of directors.

Midge lives and writes in the Pacific Northwest. Visit her online at MidgeRaymond.com.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Press 53 (March 22, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 164 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1935708384
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1935708384
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 0.38 x 9.02 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 11 ratings

About the author

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Midge Raymond

Midge Raymond

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Midge Raymond is the author of the novel MY LAST CONTINENT and the short-story collection FORGETTING ENGLISH, which received the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction. Her articles and stories have appeared in TriQuarterly, American Literary Review, Bellevue Literary Review, the Los Angeles Times magazine, Poets & Writers, and many other publications.

She is also the author of the suspense novel DEVILS ISLAND, co-authored with John Yunker, and the novel FLOREANA, forthcoming from Little A in 2025.

Midge has taught creative writing at Boston University, Grub Street Writers, Seattle's Richard Hugo House, and San Diego Writers, Ink. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she is co-founder of the boutique publisher Ashland Creek Press.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
11 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Wendy Call
5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly delicious stories!
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2011
Verified Purchase
I have read this book several times over, given it as a gift to at least half a dozen friends and family members, and soon will teach it in a contemporary literature class. I can't wait to share these elegantly crafted stories with my students! Midge Raymond has an ear for poetic prose, an eye for essential detail, and a heart that will open your heart to all of her protagonists -- as different as each one is. A beautiful collection.
One person found this helpful
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Harriet Cannon
3.0 out of 5 stars Some of the tales Ms. Raymond recounts are quite ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
Some of the tales Ms. Raymond recounts are quite engaging, memorable and give plenty of food for thought from her experience and perspective. There were times, however where her stories were more self indulgent, self centered than I found interesting. As someone who has lived and traveled in Latin America, it's always interesting to see another America woman's perspective.
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Clifford Garstang
5.0 out of 5 stars Characters who try to reinvent themselves
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2015
This is a fine collection of short stories (Spokane Prize Winner, published by Press 53). I enjoyed the settings around the world -- Taiwan, Tonga, Antarctica, etc. -- and the great characters. The stories explore fidelity as well as the ties that bind us, drawing us back from attempts to reinvent ourselves. A great read.
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Janna Cawrse Esarey
5.0 out of 5 stars Great for book clubs
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2011
As a mother of two young girls, I rarely find long stretches of time to read, so I've really been enjoying short story collections. My favorite recent read is Midge Raymond's collection, Forgetting English. It won the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction, and I understand why. Besides the lyrical language and lovely use of metaphor, I was drawn completely into the characters' lives. These are women, in varying moments of crisis or crossroads, whom you'd like to have coffee with, or comfort, or give a stern talking to. And, for me, the underlying theme of the book hit home: What's lost and what's found when we travel the world? How does being somewhere foreign both take us away from ourselves and bring us closer to our true selves? These stories are little gems and, put together, they give the reader a cohesive journey to savor. I highly recommend Forgetting English. Great fodder for book club conversations, too.
3 people found this helpful
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Sean Farley
5.0 out of 5 stars "Forgetting English" is a powerful collection of short stories
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2013
"Forgetting English" is a strong, mesmerizing, unforgettable (no pun intended) collection of short stories. Written in fine, exquisite prose, the stories in "Forgetting English" will leave you wishing each story was its own novel. Personally, I enjoy short stories. More importantly, I enjoy short stories that provide a novel's worth of depth and intimacy in just several muscular pages. From "The Ecstatic Cry" to "The Road to Hana," you'll not only be pleasantly entertained, you'll be surreptitiously educated. Give this collection a chance. Midge has a supreme voice in the way of literature.
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Patti M. Marxsen
5.0 out of 5 stars A Voyage of Self-Discovery
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2011
The stories of Forgetting English travel a fine line between memory and forgetting. Each story is a voyage--inward or outward--and each voyage takes the young woman at the center to a new and unexpected place. Perhaps one has to "forget" one's comfort zone before another, more authentic comfort zone becomes possible. Perhaps the only way to grow is by forgetting what brought you this far. Such are the real-life dilemmas addressed here in the guise of "fiction."

Midge Raymond's collection is daring because it confronts such questions and allows that discomfort might be a condition of self-discovery. Each story involves hard choices between self-knowledge and self-denial spread across a geographic sweep that feels like circumnavigation. With subtlety and grace, Raymond guides her characters to states beyond forgetting.
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Elizabeth Austen
5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable Travels
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2011
This book of short stories makes a perfect travel companion. Each story occupies dual landscapes--the literal, geographic setting (often somewhere unfamiliar to the general reader), and the intense emotional terrain of relationships that we all must navigate.

The characters in this newly released and recently extended edition of Midge Raymond's FORGETTING ENGLISH are so vividly drawn that they stayed with me at the close of each story. I found myself thinking about them as if they were actual people, friends I'd somehow--regretably--failed to stay in touch with.

Though each story stands alone, the collection as a whole creates an engrossing, complex and very satisfying experience. Great gift book for someone about to take a trip.
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Clare
5.0 out of 5 stars Forgetting English
Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2011
Midge Raymond continues to do a careful and cunning job of mapping the treacherous landscape of love between husbands and wives, sisters, lovers, and even coworkers in this new edition of Forgetting English. Each story is set in a different and exotic destination around the world that presents its own challenges and further tests these relationship. This new edition adds stories that take place in Australia and Thailand. Her honest prose style and often gritty subject matter leaves the reader in a reflective mood without closure, but true to the short story form, shines a light on that place and that moment that brings all your senses alive.
3 people found this helpful
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