Almost Famous Women: Stories

"Every one of these stories is as vibrant, as urgent, as surprising as the women therein. What a thrill to listen as they cohere into a chorus of powerful, affecting and often hilarious voices, each unforgettable, together undeniable. Another stunning collection from the brilliant Megan Mayhew Bergman."----Claire Vaye Watkins, author of Battleborn

""Almost Famous Women" is sharp, compassionate, and strong, just like the women depicted in its pages. Megan Mayhew Bergman writes with such precision that we should all quake in her presence. This book only looks like it's made of paper-- you are holding priceless diamonds in your hand."----Emma Straub, author of The Vacationers

"Megan Mayhew Bergman writes with an astonishing force of empathy, a compassion as bright and illuminating as a klieg light. The reader of Almost Famous Women can't help but be seduced by these eccentric, subversive, passionate women who lived their lives with their entire souls and who were furiously unapologetic for doing so."----Lauren Groff, author of Arcadia

"Lovely and heartbreaking."--Anjelica Huston, author of Watch Me

"Megan Mayhew Bergman breathes life into lives that men and history have cast aside. It is rare that an author is as fearless as her characters. Bergman is, and "Almost Famous Women "is a stunning feat of great daring."--Lily King, author of Euphoria

"Megan Mayhew Bergman is a tremendous writer -- compassionate and intelligent, generous and funny -- and "Almost Famous Women" is a collection filled with empathy, insight and extraordinary psychological precision. Mayhew Bergman has made the women who inhabit this beautiful book come fully to life -- I won't ever forget them."--Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans

"Rough-cut gems of a bygone era."--O, The Oprah Magazine

"In these inventive short stories, off-the-radar historical characters--a motorbike racer, a diva, Oscar Wilde's niece--enter the limelight at last."--MORE Magazine

"A collection of stories as beautiful and strange as the women who inspired them."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Gutsy and expertly written."--Bustle

"Fearless stories star[ring] an eccentric cavalcade."--Vanity Fair

"Gives us the best of what short fiction offers: a glimpse of intriguing characters, told in unique and varied voices, set in pivotal snatches of their fascinating lives... Bergman is a spry and meticulous writer, and these stories linger in one's memory long after reading them."--Jim Carmin "Minneapolis Star Tribune "

"Stories that are so intriguing you wish they were full-length novels... Bergman revives these often troubled spirits with great compassion."--Connie Ogle "Miami Herald "

"Seek within to find the forgotten. Bergman's well-written short stories tell the tales of women who "almost "made it into history books."--Tara Wanda Merrigan "GQ "

"Thrill-seeking women abound in the collection, chock-full of bravery, defiance and creativity."--Cheryl Crocker McKeon "Shelf Awareness "

"There's an allure to reading about the historical lives of women who bucked social conventions, even when they come, as they so often do, to a tragic end. We read them with an element of wish-fulfillment, searching for assurances that there were other ways to think and be."--Amy Gentry "Chicago Tribune "

"Real women are found at the heart of these tales, women unusual for their times and almost entirely forgotten in ours... Arresting... Sympathetic, never romanticizing often self-destructive behavior, but exploring why these women sought risk taking and the effect of their impulses."--Leanna Bales "Kansas City Star "

"Graceful prose charged with knowingness and certitude... Thanks to Bergman's assured writing, many of these women -- fictional and historical -- will burn bright in one's mind well after reading these fine stories."--S. Kirk Walsh "Boston Globe "

"Bergman's scenarios are addictive and tantalizing, each one whetting our appetite for more... stunning depictions of how fame's fire warms with even the slightest contact."--Gina Webb "Atlanta Journal-Constitution "

"Bergman always historicizes and never idealizes... by assiduously depicting their intimacy and power struggles, she allows for a close examination of the multiciplicty of women's experiences."--Naomi Fry "The New York Times Book Review "

"By exploring the women who didn't quite make it into history books, Bergman offers thoughtful commentary on the stories we do and don't preserve."--Maddie Crum "The Huffington Post "

"Ingenious... atmospheric... intense, richly imagined tales."--Maureen Corrigan "Fresh Air "

"A cleverly constructed, honest, and thoughtful book of stories. Fans of historical fiction and biography will find much to delight and ponder in these pages."--Julie Hakim Azzam "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "

"[Bergman] nimbly animates the stories when she approaches them from tangential angles, often from the perspective of another character with something at stake."--John Williams "The New York Times "

Megan Mayhew Bergman is the author of Almost Famous Women and Birds of a Lesser Paradise. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Best American Short Stories, New Stories from the South, McSweeney's, Tin House, and Oxford American, among other publications. She lives on a small farm in Vermont with her veterinarian husband, two daughters, and many animals.