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Ladee Hubbard

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The Last Suspicious Holdout: Stories Kindle Edition

by Ladee Hubbard (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.9 41 ratings

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“Fiercely intelligent, warm in their own way, and absolutely absorbing. . . . Excellent excellent excellent.”—Roxane Gay

“Ladee Hubbard is a true original, and this book is a unique beauty.”—Mary Gaitskill

The critically acclaimed author of The Rib King returns with an eagerly anticipated collection of interlocking short stories including the title story written exclusively for this volume, that explore relationships between friends, family and strangers in a Black neighborhood over fifteen years.

The thirteen gripping tales In The Last Suspicious Holdout, the new story collection by award-winning author Ladee Hubbard, deftly chronicle poignant moments in the lives of an African American community located in a “sliver of southern suburbia.” Spanning from 1992 to 2007, the stories represent a period during which the Black middle-class expanded while stories of "welfare Queens," "crack babies," and "super predators" abounded in the media. In “False Cognates,” a formerly incarcerated attorney struggles with raising the tuition to keep his troubled son in an elite private school. In “There He Go,” a young girl whose mother moves constantly clings to a picture of the grandfather she doesn’t know but invents stories of his greatness. Characters spotlighted in one story reappear in another, providing a stunning testament to the enduring resilience of Black people as they navigate the “post-racial” period The Last Suspicious Holdout so vividly portrays.

From the Publisher

An eagerly anticipated collection of interlocking short stories

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Keenly observed, both in exterior details and interior psychological realities, Ladee Hubbard’s short stories capture the absurd, charming, brave, beautiful, and grotesque acts that are the pivot points of specific Black lives. With prose bone spare and elegant, she reveals the swagger required to keep seeing and to be seen." — Alice Randall, author of Black Bottom Saints

"I loved these interconnected stories. They are fiercely intelligent, warm in their own way, and absolutely absorbing. Hubbard has a deft sense of character and community and I really enjoyed piecing together the connections between the collection’s characters. Excellent excellent excellent." — Roxane Gay

“For sheer reading pleasure Ladee Hubbard’s original and wildly inventive novel is in a class by itself.” — Toni Morrison on The Talented Ribkins

About the Author

Ladee Hubbard is the author of The Rib King and The Talented Ribkins, which received the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, The Times Literary Supplement, Copper Nickel and Callaloo. Hubbard is a recipient of a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship, a Berlin Prize Fellowship, and a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. She has also received fellowships from MacDowell, Art Omi, the Sacatar Foundation, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Born in Massachusetts and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida, Ladee Hubbard currently lives in New Orleans.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B096T2R3Z3
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amistad (March 8, 2022)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 8, 2022
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4563 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 206 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0062979094

Best Sellers Rank: #967,683 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,130 in Literary Short Stories
- #1,469 in U.S. Short Stories
- #4,361 in Cultural Heritage Fiction

Customer Reviews:
3.9 41 ratings

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Ladee Hubbard

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Ladee Hubbard is a recipient of a 2016 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award. She holds a BA from Princeton University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin. She lives in New Orleans. The Talented Ribkins is her first novel.

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3.9 out of 5

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Jacqueline Hubbard

great short stories

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2022

Great story telling.

Really strong short story collection!

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2023

Verified Purchase

This is a collection of interconnected stories about Black Americans that explores racism and trauma, but also community, connection, and resilience. As with any short story collection, I found some stories stronger than others, personally I liked the title story maybe the most, but there were a lot of great ones in here.

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January

I Read It For Book Club

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2023

The Last Suspicious Holdout: Stories by Ladee Hubbard
211-page Kindle Ebook

Genre: Short Stories, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, African-American, Contemporary Fiction

Featuring: Kids, Kool-aid Pops, Drugs, Social Issues, Prison, Food, Family Drama, Cliffhangers

Rating as a movie: R for references to drug use, prostitution, and other adult themes

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️📚

My thoughts: Flip Lady (1992) - ⭐️⭐️ - I didn't like it. I would have to reread for a more accurate picture than I currently have, but I don't want to. It was uncomfortable.
Henry (1993) -⭐️⭐️½ - It was okay. There was an odd start and right when it was getting interesting, it just stopped.
Bitch: An Etymology of Family Values (1994) -🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟- I see the connections and other than the ick factor, that was actually very good.
There He Go (1995) - ⭐️⭐️¾- Meh. It was okay
False Cognates (1996) -⭐️⭐️⭐️- That was interesting. I'm still shaking my head.
Yams (1997) -⭐️⭐️- I didn't get it.
Houston and the Blinking What (1998) -⭐️⭐️⭐️½- That was weird, this better all come together in the end or something.
Five People Who Crave Sauce (1999) -⭐️⭐️⭐️- Unique format but I lost my appetite.
🔖The Last Suspicious Holdout (2001) -🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟- That story was so long that I dozed off while thinking about my review. I honestly don't know. There's some deeper meaning but at face value, it was just okay. * I didn't feel right about this one since it was 237 AM and I fell asleep while writing my review I decided to reread this one. 🏆- Okay the reread was worth it, it went from okay to revolutionary. Improved by 2 whole stars, but it's different from the other stories.
The Night Nurses (2004) -⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- This was good but another cutoff.
Trash (2005) -⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- I still don't know where they are. These later stories are better. I was wide awake at midnight, maybe not by 2 AM, but definitely at midnight and those stories were unfinished and odd. These are snippets but they are whole scenes and for me relatable, unlike the 90s stories.
Crack Babies! (2006) -⭐️⭐️⭐️- I may have spoken too soon, because what? It started as a 5 and ended as a 2 and I lost the point I was coming to, so 3 it is.
Paulie Sparks (2007) -⭐️⭐️- I didn't like this one at all.

This is not something I would typically pick up as the cover is too busy for me. I'm not a fan of literary fiction but some of these stories hit their marks. I gave it 3 stars because that was the average based on 13 stories and it was fitting.

Recommend to others: Maybe. There are some good analytical exercises here.

Helpful

NY Litchick

Beautiful collection of linked stories

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2022

Ladee Hubbard (The Talented Rivkin’s, The Rib King) is one of the premier writers of her generation and this collection does not disappoint. Memorable characters who struggle, and persevere and triumph.

One person found this helpful

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Michelle Lawrence

Short Stories, Long History

Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2022

"You live in a society that has the idea that one Black person is three-fifths of a human being inscribed in its constitution. A society that believed that because certain people were born female, they were to feeble-minded to vote. You live in a world where people believe skin tone gives them special powers, and that those powers somehow justify them to brutalize other people for doing something as simple as trying to plant a seed." Ladee Hubbard's "The Last Suspicious Holdout" hit deep with that quote, those statistics, the deeply rooted systematic racism and sexism that plague those of color.

This book is set up as a collection of short stories, that can all be interconnected about a no-name town, "the southside", the "9th ward", gentle nods to setting location throughout the book. These short stories take place from 1992-2007, all encompassing the voices of the black community with the connection of the Equality Community Center. People should care about this novel because it points out the every day struggle that people of color go through trying to navigate this life, which is not something I generally have to think of as a white female.

The author speaks about the war on drugs, the lack of opportunities and infrastructural support, systematic racism, infidelity - every social issue is embedded. This book was a solid three stars from a relatively newly acclaimed author. I expect many more wonderful works from her. She has a in depth writing style and captures the voices of the black community well. Reading this book was like taking a walk through the neighborhood, chock full of characters you want to know more about, characters you love immediately, and antagonists that you hate. If you have ever seen the show Shameless, and you adore the Gallagher family - you will like this novel.

The short stories were thought provoking, vivid, but sometimes hard to follow. I am a character person and love a well developed character, which is hard to do in a collection of short stories, so my problems with the text are just that, my problems.

6 people found this helpful

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Anna Fu

A tight web of short stories

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2022

This short but densely-packed collection contains stories that don’t exceed one word longer than they should. They each hit you hard and then promptly move on.

One person found this helpful

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Elaine Carter

Not For Me

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2022

I really wanted to love this book based on the synopsis but found it to be poorly written, with unsympathetic characters. It was difficult to finish.

2 people found this helpful

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Sacha

A Immersive Short Story Event

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2022

4 stars

This is a compulsively readable collection of interconnected short stories that I read in one day and likely would have read in one sitting if not for some mandatory errands.

The characters all exist in the same general space but reflect distinct relationships and experiences, and - especially for the abbreviated format - they are all remarkably well drawn. There wasn't a story in this collection I disliked, but I am partial to the titular event.

I was not aware of this author at all until a prominent review appeared on Goodreads recently. If you are experienced with Hubbard, you likely already know the gem within, but if you are also new to this author, I recommend taking the time to get to know them - and their intriguing characters - better through this collection.

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