The Safety of Objects

Author(s): A. M. Homes

Short Stories

The breakthrough story collection that established A. M. Homes as one of the most daring writers of her generation

Originally published in 1990 to wide critical acclaim, this extraordinary first collection of stories by A. M. Homes confronts the real and the surreal on even terms to create a disturbing and sometimes hilarious vision of the American dream. Included here are "Adults Alone," in which a couple drops their kids off at Grandma's and gives themselves over to ten days of Nintendo, porn videos, and crack; "A Real Doll," in which a girl's blond Barbie doll seduces her teenaged brother; and "Looking for Johnny," in which a kidnapped boy, having failed to meet his abductor's expectations, is returned home. These stories, by turns satirical, perverse, unsettling, and utterly believable, expose the dangers of ordinary life even as their characters stay hidden behind the disguises they have so carefully created.


Product Information

A.M. HOMES is the author of the novels May We Be Forgiven, This Book Will Save Your Life, Music for Torching, The End of Alice, In a Country of Mothers and Jack, and two collections of short stories, Things You Should Know and The Safety of Objects and the highly acclaimed memoir, The Mistress's Daughter, as well as the travel memoir, Los Angeles: People, Places and the Castle on the Hill. She is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and writes frequently on arts and culture for numerous magazines and newspapers. She lives in New York City.

General Fields

  • : 9781847087300
  • : Granta Books
  • : Granta Books
  • : April 2013
  • : United Kingdom
  • : May 2013
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : A. M. Homes
  • : Paperback
  • : 2
  • : 813.6
  • : 178