Accessibility Tools

Uncommon Weather

Alaska Stories 

by Richard Chiappone

Hardcover Price $85.00
Paperback Price $19.95
Ebook Price $16.95
30-day ebook rental price $8.50

Buy Now


The Alaska Literary Series

“Deeply moving . . . these stories have aspects of enduring universal themes wrapped in theuniqueness of Alaska as they explore the complexities of the human condition.”
—Sarah Birdsall, Matanuska Susitna College, author of Wild Rivers, Wild Rose 
 
“Each story is well told and dramatically rich and creates the feeling of stories told from one person to another: ‘Do you remember the time . . . ?’”
—David Nikki Crouse, University of Washington, author of Trouble Will Save You
 
"Marked by alienation and a dark sense of humor, Uncommon Weather is a haunting collection of short stories about human burdens in a far corner of the world.”

 

Uncommon Weather is an eclectic mix of character-driven stories that delivers a panoramic picture of Alaska— from the cold city streets of Anchorage to picturesque but emotionally treacherous small Alaska towns; from the rough-and-tumble commercial fishing world of the distant Aleutian Islands to a remote river in the Brooks Range, where the vast and unforgiving Arctic wilderness puts romance to a severe test. 

Richard Chiappone’s characters hail from a wide range of socioeconomic strata, each one attempting to figure out the difficult question of how best to live among others. Odd connections abound. In the seriocomic title story, a lonely middle-aged woman, weary of her austere Alaskan life and her crumbling marriage, picks up a hockey stick and a younger man and tries to brawl her way to some better future. A man diagnosed with an apparently terminal illness is caught up in a catastrophic criminal undertaking masterminded by a precocious seventeen-year-old girl. A young boy, determined to fit in with his edgier peers, goes through a metamorphosis, becoming a strange new creature he’s never seen before. With sometimes hilarious missteps, each character stumbles in and out of predicaments that are by turns tender, heartbreaking, dangerous, and even violent. 

Told with great empathy and often deeply ironic, wry, and sardonic humor, these stories are a counterpoint to the usual mythos, illuminating an Alaska not usually portrayed in books, on TV, or in movies.

Media
Zack Rogow's Advice for Writers

Richard Chiappone teaches writing classes at the Kachemak Bay Campus of the Kenai Peninsula College and for 49 Writers. His stories and essays have appeared in dozens of national magazines and anthologies. A two-time winner of the Robert Traver Award and the recipient of an Alaska Council on the Arts Literary Award and a grant from the Alaska State Council on Arts and Culture, he has published three books of stories and a novel, The Hunger of Crows.

University of Alaska Press Logo

Details

  • Hardcover Price: $85.00
  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-64642-635-5
  • Paperback Price: $19.95
  • Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64642-636-2
  • Ebook Price: $16.95
  • 30-day ebook rental price: $8.50
  • EISBN: 978-1-64642-637-9
  • Publication Month: September
  • Publication Year: 2024
  • Pages: 168
  • Discount Type: Trade
  • Author: by Richard Chiappone
  • ECommerce Code: 978-1-64642-636-2
  • Get Permissions: Get Permission

Related Titles

Browse Related Titles Tagged Under:

University Press of Colorado University of Alaska Press Utah State University Press University of Wyoming Press