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Show Don't Tell

Stories

Author Curtis Sittenfeld
Hardcover
$28.00 US
Random House Group | Random House
6-1/8"W x 9-1/4"H
On sale Feb 25, 2025 | 320 Pages | 9780593446737
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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A funny, fiercely intelligent, and moving collection exploring marriage, friendship, fame, and artistic ambition—including a story that revisits the main character from Curtis Sittenfeld’s iconic novel Prep—from the New York Times bestselling author of Eligible and Romantic Comedy

“[Sittenfeld’s] perfectly contained stories are a joy.”—Booklist, starred review

In her second story collection, Sittenfeld shows why she’s as beloved for her short fiction as she is for her novels. In these dazzling stories, she conjures up characters so real that they seem like old friends, laying bare the moments when their long held beliefs are overturned.

In “The Patron Saints of Middle Age,” a woman visits two friends she hasn’t seen since her divorce. In “A for Alone,” a married artist embarks on a creative project intended to disprove the so-called Mike Pence Rule, which suggests that women and men can’t spend time alone together without lusting after each other. And in “Lost but Not Forgotten,” Sittenfeld gives readers of her novel Prep a window into the world of her beloved character Lee Fiora, decades later, when Lee attends an alumni reunion at her boarding school.

Hilarious, thought-provoking, and full of tenderness for her characters, Sittenfeld’s stories peel back layer after layer of our inner lives, keeping us riveted to the page with her utterly distinctive voice.
© Jenn Ackerman
Curtis Sittenfeld is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels including Rodham, Eligible, Prep, American Wife, and Sisterland, as well as the collection You Think It, I’ll Say It. Her novels have been translated into thirty languages. In addition, her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post Magazine, Esquire, and The Best American Short Stories, for which she has also been the guest editor. Her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time, and Vanity Fair, and on public radio’s This American Life. View titles by Curtis Sittenfeld
Advance praise for Show Don’t Tell

“Witty . . . In one sparkling comedy of manners after another, [Curtis Sittenfeld] documents with a clear and affectionate eye how tiny prejudices and blind spots lead her protagonists astray. These stories entertain and unsettle in equal measure.”—Publishers Weekly

“[Sittenfeld’s] perfectly contained stories are a joy for their realistically and mundanely fractured characters, moral ambiguities, movingly related moments, and the message that even the smallest tale offers lessons to uncover.”—Booklist, starred review


Praise for You Think It, I’ll Say It, Sittenfeld’s previous story collection

“Psychologically acute, deftly crafted and deeply pleasurable.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Perfectly paced, witty and laced with unexpected twists: Every story here sticks its landing. Whatever [Sittenfeld] writes, we’ll read it.”—People

“Razor-sharp, often hilarious . . . [Sittenfeld] is a sharp observer of human nature and human relationships. . . . A witty, breezy, zeitgeist-y collection.”—USA Today

“In her first collection of stories . . . [Sittenfeld] writes with her trademark wit.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“The characters in Curtis Sittenfeld’s collection of stories [are] honest, fun, and irreverent. . . . Sittenfeld’s gems make you realize how small the world is, and how much we all have in common.”—Glamour

“Empathetic imagination is one of the defining features of Sittenfeld’s fiction.”—NPR

“Every bit as smart, sensitive, funny, and genuine as her phenomenally popular novels.”—Booklist, starred review

About

A funny, fiercely intelligent, and moving collection exploring marriage, friendship, fame, and artistic ambition—including a story that revisits the main character from Curtis Sittenfeld’s iconic novel Prep—from the New York Times bestselling author of Eligible and Romantic Comedy

“[Sittenfeld’s] perfectly contained stories are a joy.”—Booklist, starred review

In her second story collection, Sittenfeld shows why she’s as beloved for her short fiction as she is for her novels. In these dazzling stories, she conjures up characters so real that they seem like old friends, laying bare the moments when their long held beliefs are overturned.

In “The Patron Saints of Middle Age,” a woman visits two friends she hasn’t seen since her divorce. In “A for Alone,” a married artist embarks on a creative project intended to disprove the so-called Mike Pence Rule, which suggests that women and men can’t spend time alone together without lusting after each other. And in “Lost but Not Forgotten,” Sittenfeld gives readers of her novel Prep a window into the world of her beloved character Lee Fiora, decades later, when Lee attends an alumni reunion at her boarding school.

Hilarious, thought-provoking, and full of tenderness for her characters, Sittenfeld’s stories peel back layer after layer of our inner lives, keeping us riveted to the page with her utterly distinctive voice.

Author

© Jenn Ackerman
Curtis Sittenfeld is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels including Rodham, Eligible, Prep, American Wife, and Sisterland, as well as the collection You Think It, I’ll Say It. Her novels have been translated into thirty languages. In addition, her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post Magazine, Esquire, and The Best American Short Stories, for which she has also been the guest editor. Her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time, and Vanity Fair, and on public radio’s This American Life. View titles by Curtis Sittenfeld

Praise

Advance praise for Show Don’t Tell

“Witty . . . In one sparkling comedy of manners after another, [Curtis Sittenfeld] documents with a clear and affectionate eye how tiny prejudices and blind spots lead her protagonists astray. These stories entertain and unsettle in equal measure.”—Publishers Weekly

“[Sittenfeld’s] perfectly contained stories are a joy for their realistically and mundanely fractured characters, moral ambiguities, movingly related moments, and the message that even the smallest tale offers lessons to uncover.”—Booklist, starred review


Praise for You Think It, I’ll Say It, Sittenfeld’s previous story collection

“Psychologically acute, deftly crafted and deeply pleasurable.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Perfectly paced, witty and laced with unexpected twists: Every story here sticks its landing. Whatever [Sittenfeld] writes, we’ll read it.”—People

“Razor-sharp, often hilarious . . . [Sittenfeld] is a sharp observer of human nature and human relationships. . . . A witty, breezy, zeitgeist-y collection.”—USA Today

“In her first collection of stories . . . [Sittenfeld] writes with her trademark wit.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“The characters in Curtis Sittenfeld’s collection of stories [are] honest, fun, and irreverent. . . . Sittenfeld’s gems make you realize how small the world is, and how much we all have in common.”—Glamour

“Empathetic imagination is one of the defining features of Sittenfeld’s fiction.”—NPR

“Every bit as smart, sensitive, funny, and genuine as her phenomenally popular novels.”—Booklist, starred review

Additional formats

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