Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Nothing with Strings: NPR's Beloved Holiday Stories
    Nothing with Strings: NPR's Beloved Holiday Stories
    Nothing with Strings: NPR's Beloved Holiday Stories
    Ebook170 pages2 hours

    Nothing with Strings: NPR's Beloved Holiday Stories

    By Bailey White

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    For more than a decade, Bailey White has delivered a story each Thanksgiving to National Public Radio's All Things Considered listeners. Long awaited by her many fans, Nothing with Strings is the entire collection of these Thanksgiving stories, published together for the first time.

    With wit and charm, Bailey White writes about an almost-gone little town where a spoon player is a guardian angel, an old woman fears that John James Audubon is living in her attic, and a homely governess wins a baby bull in a raffle and loses her heart. It's the kind of place where Heavenly Blue morning glories grow in through the windows of old houses and funeral food is shared on a Greyhound bus on a fall afternoon. You may not have ever been there, but you will feel right at home in these pages. Bailey White's beautifully written stories, teetering on the edge of the unreal, are sure to bring back memories you don't really have.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScribner
    Release dateOct 28, 2008
    ISBN9781439121283
    Author

    Bailey White

    Bailey White was born and raised in Thomasville, Georgia. She has worked as a schoolteacher and a writer. Her essays and stories have appeared in magazines and on NPR's All Things Considered. She is the author of two story collections, ama Makes Up Her Mind and Sleeping at the Starlite Motel, and a novel, Quite a Year for Plums.

    Related to Nothing with Strings

    Related ebooks

    Short Stories For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Ann Beattie

      Sep 15, 2017

      I’d started to visit Olivia more often because it was obvious she was lonely. The ALS lady who’d been moved to Hopkins had been Aunt Olivia’s closest friend, leaving aside Merton Hillstead, who actually went home. Even the friendly paperboy who somet

      23 min read

    • Article

      The Moment That Made Me Slim

      Jan 11, 2022

      As I reached for a carton of milk, I caught sight of a little girl looking at me. ‘Mummy, look how fat that lady is,’ she said loudly, pointing in my direction. I saw the girl’s mother gasp, her cheeks red with embarrassment as she hurriedly shuffled

      4 min read

    • Article

      5 over 50

      Oct 10, 2018

      5 over 50
      12 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Feb 20, 2023

      Rebecca Makkai’s latest novel, I Have Some Questions For You, is a literary mystery set against the backdrop of a New Hampshire boarding school. Our protagonist, Bodie Kane, is a successful podcaster who is invited back to her alma mater to help some

      3 min read

    • Article

      By Design

      Mar 3, 2020

      Her son and his future wife took Suzanne out to lunch and asked her to do the wedding invitations. Not so long ago, she had been a successful graphic designer. Her own boss. They were anxious to make her feel useful. When the food arrived, it was veg

      14 min read

    • Article

      ‘American Dirt’: Who Gets To Tell Your Story?

      Jan 30, 2020

      The publisher of Jeanine Cummins’ novel “American Dirt” canceled her book tour Wednesday, saying she has received death threats.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Page One

      Dec 14, 2022

      “Ramón climbed up the Coca-Cola billboard near the highway one Monday.” How to Turn Into a Bird (Tin House, December 2022) by María José Ferrada, translated from the Spanish by Elizabeth Bryer. Fifty-fifth book, second novel. Agent: Vito D’Onghia. Ed

      2 min read

    • Article

      Christopher Pike

      Jan 29, 2020

      Christopher Pike
      2 min read

    • Article

      Southern Gothic: Ten Essentials Books

      Sep 15, 2021

      When it comes to Southern gothic, it’s not the heat that gets you, it’s the humidity. It’s a genre designed to make you uncomfortable. The post Southern Gothic: Ten Essentials Books appeared first on The Millions.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Ten Must-Read Crime Books Set in the American West

      Dec 27, 2019

      This list of must-read crime titles forms part of a lesser-known West, an awesomely weird landscape in which the line between Good and Evil shimmers like a mirage. The post Ten Must-Read Crime Books Set in the American West appeared first on The Mill

      4 min read

    • Article

      Farewell To The Flesh

      Nov 2, 2022

      Farewell To The Flesh
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Nothing with Strings

    3.5/5

    36 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This was a neat collection of southern short stories I’m not sure why they say they are holiday themed because really they’re not, but good none the less. I would say the theme is aging & gardening, southern style.Some of these stories were sad/touching, some were funny, most were both but all left me wanting more. Just a warning these aren’t happy stories but they are good stories I would recommend this for southern fiction lovers. I listened to this one on audio narrated by, Lorna Raver who as always does a great job.3 ½ Stars
    • 2/5
      From the title, I was expecting a collection of holiday stories. Nope. Not here. Only one story revolved around the holiday season. What I got was a collection of random stories that would be classified as Southern fiction. Most of the stories left me wondering what just happened. A lot of them felt incomplete. Most of them went over my head. I wouldn't have finished the collection, but I needed it for a challenge. The one story I did enjoy was "Bus Ride". It was a simple story that revolved around a group of strangers on a bus ride together.
    • 4/5
      I loved many of these stories: title story, the hippies, Queen of the Roses, the first story with the substitute meals-on-wheels delivery person, the evolution of the garden and many of the others which showed growth and adventure at any age. Holiday stories? No, only in that they may have been broad cast during the holidays, but Bailey Whites colorful perceptions abound.
    • 4/5
      Nothing with Strings is a collection of short stories written by NPR contributor Bailey White. These beautiful little stories are about people who can see the magic and mystery in everyday life. Where some see an elderly lady whose mind is slipping, Bailey White conjures a Thanksgiving picnic with a mysterious dancing girl. From a replica of a 1909 Sears catalog comes a black carriage with red stripes and a black and white prancy pony, a rose queen is discovered in a nursing home, and a lady wakes to find Richard Nixon cooking scrambled eggs in her kitchen. Squint your eyes a little and allow the lines of reality to blur and who knows what you could find between the pages of this book?
    • 3/5
      These stories may have broadcast around the holidays, but the actual stories have nothing to do with Thanksgiving or Christmas. And if you are looking for heartwarming and cheerful tales, keep looking. These poignant snapshots of people’s lives are well written, but are so sad they verge on being depressing. Abandonment, dementia, and death figure largely in them. And don’t expect the collection to be neatly tied up in a satisfying end, either. I wish whoever titled it and chose the cover art had picked something more descriptive to the book and less misleading. Perhaps dead roses on a grave in a cemetery would have enlightened readers as to what lay inside its cover. Yes, it’s well written for what it is, and the narrator is quite good, also, but in keeping with the holiday theme, I’m thankful it was only five hours long.
    • 2/5
      2½ stars.

      Lorna Raver did a good job with the narration but unfortunately, I found the stories themselves were only OK.

    Book preview

    Nothing with Strings - Bailey White

    'abook_preview_excerpt.htmlZ˒}vdP,.m >6Ak4 ęUf$ዴ*++ /?|.]|.[d^<LJ/'ۏ/?]ck'3ən\_/`֙>sB.,70Q>[;_&3׮1~6dig~osfrC}³.#ՑڡЄGۻfnsZS7p)ZYdyŮ\<ဧ^OKů/9{\nv}) )>mlk 8Gܒ{tn?wG[:70Lգ˛u|>=\<8S~c:ܫV/ hOz5}|_ZʱghGZf1NMXTRV'1W5|D XhC +0L40+3WNQV3 ą00y sj2~#Š3D<9 osO n7@&LEBD\vug{&AvnÜTit?7muDoċbY|"hL5#fhqu: H)uyrkF#mVyF]92Q2?1+!0D4Yfn߀yFig6 } v'%(u]tc ܀=ɞd:_HD4%|qjїhKE D0)e(&ߋ3'0-XV}Č$D2C:fZ{i1 u@o',MQ ﺰK"5t7V[8専ksHYBBDTD9I@“L jZ¬*`X46rC~ 踺L3N!0(T M DLDb⠲Ye؄!QĪC<#.B;6$G멍%7@g;ewvf8ۗNOjդWBp¿t]q"(-4K, rsM -~T$! @FYh=lԟL<3-:S92j$JzՉ϶"5Я+՞>ܪȧ@^mJ&9wQĈ<1Eh`[>3dW#,;n]O90C if-LJ#<$SWzjKf'T%c⿹- q=4$3ȇĽ|(9qk QN-U/ĵٌRr'BzT|_X$Ҕ˹bިZ`%vp`X Nck`Og]~Ԓ[Z #"״TQ8rT}jJ I̱h: 7DxjKeqٝx\N(D)IgxX| #9 ߃P/>`c4iێʝZ2 BPMU^AHm4W;D?|rp gUx SDU`sS9Z$p7SdК) hE6Ơ{xC6{Wc*&lSSGK.q-_HJ5DV|kkA3'1o,Kwo1"׭;G~b嶖(,.Fffx?JA?g lȌU YoÂ[2YA IQ4[GŊY\-GBO`ТCAVP +х@ li")Pˢ ;^y H2fg9cguU5#ʝ`T{cZI7(]ғ$x>nxyo31$-sŖChu+>h7NY6j5ŧ/)`u*$VU,@q[Ź;i:E! /{TWoE!mqfLݳn#ivN9A~ݭO) ȳ}~j7F#tzԥZY0]*ΌΞ'dh0D'| b"*4ƎY(׎فIfĒ& [0֕ziTrZf$V>ճq[wTNeD;iw6BH }"G}@\>2-4O~?w c'2JCa=nZ. b_1tetUO>`lgpckZJ)=EҖЄ\(j!0)A.&Nr-6uN*-sˎl(wVZbQ2C;~=7s{.'G`'d,Z:*-[T[ oDҝރjE_p5X:(w5G,2?!8iszD:$ >n7pW2N0=j/Nj8s[ 9Nhv|N( QaXA;.PWY Z4C 0+ ?g7,I&[H=N>A9|QV-v?`W  gc@z OJCAtIvo6O8\ 5v^*e\=M]#m>+yDUA4?Z@@%X*0=dTV. Vub>!G3s]2*jQ]OtAKGi2^htC@O/*yMwg o' K?9Y|&k!R2`S&2dHd(SH'+B؛_\ W'!vMinfVZ:Fp(Y;Ys))d+m ;e-ǀҾvwOzDR/j^ +YB&B҃ʖɕFȃKJ0K5 }Fj-Ѿ0yR,);[adsI+M}r,>#㹏6.G5n IQX iM6Ӥް߯mRLWŰ]Gy: ҿ5-/M:({My4y:{M2#3"O;Ӻqs Nfo~ٺҴ+;172<8؏~զՐQ3,䂨~*-?:քL:褯$ulO+-r}qAfIk{\::Z[d54[YGtv_/d0coHSj3oP);͍j*ml~ k5!yQ yp1ⴈ-,wΉ_q徢/<{&ӽξsTҎNRݣӦޚ#$=Kl֕Z<[?!KC w|ӥl~bۓcѕTJ,AgEl-1)BiicLv!Yl Wu'3,};to?8}tIz.~)pe殼E/"y me^~]ĵkxWD.8t.=: DDi:{IS>DRD  HNlg5 J׍,i6Eu̵S |hͽ溈?Է/
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1