Three Thousand Dollars: Stories

Eleven sparkling stories of family, love, and art from New York Times-bestselling author David Lipsky My mother doesn't know that I owe my father three thousand dollars. From the opening line of the acclaimed title story--a Best American Short Stories selection that first appeared in the New Yorker--to the tender last scene of "Springs, 1977," this pitch-perfect collection explores the unsteady terrain of early adulthood and the complex legacy of family. Self-aware, creatively ambitious, and just privileged enough to be acutely aware of all that they lack, Lipsky's characters are as real and unforgettable as the dilemmas they face--some of their own making, some that the world has thrust on them. In "Relativity," a college junior transfers to the Ivy League in order to please his mother and make new friends; he quickly realizes the fault in his logic. In "Colonists," a nervous young author searches for her muse at a New Hampshire writers' retreat attended by a priest who pens erotic poetry and a composer working on a comic opera about the Alger Hiss trial. " 'Shh, ' " the genesis of Lipsky's highly praised novel The Art Fair, is the story of a dutiful son trying to shield his artist mother from the agony of her latest rejection. Witty, heartbreaking, and wise, the stories in Three Thousand Dollars are a testament to David Lipsky's exceptional talent and to the power of short fiction to transform the smallest of moments into the greatest of truths.

About the Author :
David Lipsky's books have been Time magazine and NPR Best Books of the Year as well as New York Times and USA Today bestsellers. He has received the National Magazine Award and the GLAAD Media Award, and his work has been anthologized in The Best American Magazine Writing and The Best American Short Stories. Lipsky is the author of 5 books, including Three Thousand Dollars, The Art Fair, Absolutely American, and Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself. In 2015, the latter became a motion picture directed by James Ponsoldt, starring Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg. Lipsky currently teaches at New York University.

Review :
"David Lipsky writes beautifully and compassionately about the place where adolescence and adulthood meet. Like his young characters, his stories have a palpable impatience about them; it's as though they're just waiting to be read." --Meg Wolitzer "Astonishing insights . . . Marvelously adroit and corrosively funny . . . Lipsky has given his contemporaries a general autobiography, one that will fit the majority with only minor adjustments." --Los Angeles Times "I confess to not having read David Lipsky before this. . . . I intend to pay attention from now on if I see his name over a short story." --Raymond Carver "An irresistible debut . . . Seductive, exotic, horrifying." --San Francisco Chronicle " 'Relativity' is as distressing, funny, and damning a view of student life in the halls of postmodern ivy as I've read anywhere." --John Barth "Lipsky proves himself in remarkable command of his material. . . . A series of brilliant reflections . . . So exciting to read." --Magill's Literary Annual "Critics loved Lipsky's short story collection Three Thousand Dollars." --Booklist