Keynote
A richly detailed, brilliantly woven debut collection about the lives and lore of one Black family
Book Title
Company
Subtitle
Stories
Cover Image
- Winner of the 2023 Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction
Shorlisted for the 2024 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing
A Publishers Weekly and Debutiful Best Book of 2023
Body
Shannon Sanders’s sparkling debut brings us into the company of the Collins family and their acquaintances as they meet, bicker, compete, celebrate, worry, keep and reveal secrets, build lives and careers, and endure. Moving from Atlantic City to New York to DC, from the 1960s to the 2000s, from law students to drag performers to violinists to matriarchs, Company tells a multifaceted, multigenerational saga in thirteen stories.
Each piece in Company includes a moment when a guest arrives at someone’s home. In “The Good, Good Men,” two brothers reunite to oust a “deadbeat” boyfriend from their mother’s house. In “The Everest Society,” the brothers’ sister anxiously prepares for a home visit from a social worker before adopting a child. In “Birds of Paradise,” their aunt, newly promoted to university provost, navigates a minefield of microaggressions at her own welcome party. And in the haunting title story, the provost’s sister finds her solitary life disrupted when her late sister’s daughter comes calling.
These are stories about intimacy, societal and familial obligations, and the ways inheritances shape our fates. Buoyant, somber, sharp, and affectionate, this collection announces a remarkable new voice in fiction.
Each piece in Company includes a moment when a guest arrives at someone’s home. In “The Good, Good Men,” two brothers reunite to oust a “deadbeat” boyfriend from their mother’s house. In “The Everest Society,” the brothers’ sister anxiously prepares for a home visit from a social worker before adopting a child. In “Birds of Paradise,” their aunt, newly promoted to university provost, navigates a minefield of microaggressions at her own welcome party. And in the haunting title story, the provost’s sister finds her solitary life disrupted when her late sister’s daughter comes calling.
These are stories about intimacy, societal and familial obligations, and the ways inheritances shape our fates. Buoyant, somber, sharp, and affectionate, this collection announces a remarkable new voice in fiction.
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About the Author
Credit: David Choy
Praise
- “Company is a deftly woven tapestry that scrupulously depicts familial ties and estrangement, richly told with a nuance that allows each character dignity and grace.”—Jonathan Escoffery, The New York Times Book Review
- “Revelatory. . . . Each character feels deeply human as they navigate what it means to be ‘company’ at one another’s homes and parties, and whether to expect a warm embrace or cold scrutiny.”—Publishers Weekly, “Best Fiction of 2023”
- “Remarkable. . . . The characters throughout are expertly rendered and deeply relatable. . . . Sanders’ stories are unforgettable, making this a strong and promising debut.”—Booklist, starred review
- “Sanders excels in this masterly debut collection about a Black extended family . . . describing their slights, heartaches, and misbehavior with exquisite emotional acuity. This is a winner.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
