In these ten stories, linked frequently by the sharing of food, Sarah Selecky reaffirms the life of everyday situations with startling significance. For fiction readers who seek stories that reflect the joys and pitfalls of marriage, fidelity, fertility, and relationship woes, this collection is a conversation starter.
This Cake Is for the Party reminds us that the best parts of our lives are often the least flashy. Reminiscent of early Margaret Atwood, with echoes of Lisa Moore and Ali Smith, these absorbing stories are about love and longing, and touch us in a myriad of subtle and affecting ways.
Heralded by writers and reviewers alike, it’s clear that Selecky displays a rare combination of nuance and power. From a dying mother-in-law to a controlling father, a best friend’s heartbreaking admission, a drug testing clinic, and one thousand wax Buddha candles, the emotions and objects in our lives are brought to light with brilliant style and craft in this collection.
“Sarah Selecky could easily be the next Alice Munro.”
Chatelaine Magazine
“Vibrant, poetic and salacious, Cake offers a survey of Gen X-ers all grown up and struggling... It's no wonder that Cake came so close to winning the Giller... Selecky shows that art must be both relevant and beautifully crafted in order to make waves in this culture.”
THIS Magazine
“[Sarah] has a tremendous eye for detail and she is extremely observant of the subtle relations between people and the way those dynamics shift, and... the blindnesses of people.”
Claire Messud
Author of The Emperor's Children
“Dry and funny, exact and exacting, the 10 short stories in This Cake is for the Party elevate economy of expression itself to an art. Story after story in this resonant and quietly apocalyptic collection deliver a sharp analysis of contemporary surreality and the madness of modern homogeneity. Its stories are tender, broken, deceptively unassuming then unexpectedly breathtaking. It holds its delicate oppositions — numbness and understanding, smartness and tragedy — with discipline and flair, and marks the arrival of a gifted writer.”
The Scotiabank Giller Prize Jury citation
“Sarah Selecky’s debut is an exceptional story collection full of regret and celebration, wisdom and wit
... Compelling, clever and exceptionally crafted, This Cake really delivers.”
Globe and Mail
Lisa Foad
“Selecky’s stories follow a wonderful collection of characters in the midst of personal dilemmas, crises and tragedies. We watch as defining moments collide with constructed truths. Lives are altered, never to be the same again...We are fortunate, indeed, that Selecky chose the short story to showcase her talent. Her writing is strong, often understated, witty and always compassionate. This Cake is for the Party is more than dessert — it is a veritable feast!”
Halifax Herald
“Selecky’s stories are ultra-lush and wise, wickedly wry. She is uncannily accurate about all the tender, blasted-open moments that change us for the good. This Cake... is delicious.”
Lisa Moore
Author of February, and Alligator
“If you want fresh, complex characters that are wry and self-deprecating, lost and found, sometimes shifty, and always very honest in the ways they fear the truth, then read Sarah Selecky. These stories are very good.”
David Bergen
Author The Time in Between and The Matter With Morris
AS SEEN IN
“An elegant collection that weaves between life’s everyday pleasures and everyday pain…a beautiful book.”
Torontoist
“Sarah Selecky is a talented young writer who evokes a generation teetering on the shoals of consumerism and ambiguous mores.”
CBC Books
“Everything a story should be: smart, wise, achingly poignant, its tightly sprung pages enfolding lifetimes of experience.”
Vancouver Sun
Rebecca Wigod
Canadian Version
Dundurn Press
(previously published by Thomas Allen Publishing)
ISBN: 978-0-88762-525-1
ISBN (epub): 978-0-88762-824-5
Published: May 8, 2010
