Wingless

by Jamaica Kincaid

Genres: Audiobook, Short Stories

magazine

Published January 1, 1979

About the author

Jamaica Kincaid is an Antiguan-American novelist, essayist, gardener, and gardening writer. She was born in St. John's, Antigua (part of the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda). She lives in North Bennington, Vermont (in the United States), during the summers, and is Professor of African and African American Studies in Residence at Harvard University during the academic year.

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the link to The New Yorker below one hears Edwidge Danticat read two stories by Jamaica Kincaid:

*Girl
*Wingless

Link: https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/fic...

Edwidge Danticat reads both well. I do not hear every word clearly, but she wonderfully captures the ambiance of each story.

****************

Girl begins 4 minutes 56 seconds into the recording.
My rating 4 stars

Girl makes me smile. Listen to the words. Listen to the significance of each. Pay attention to how each is strung to the next.

We have here a mother instructing a daughter on life.

Pay attention right from the start.

****************

Wingless
begins 10 minutes 10 seconds into the recording.
My rating 2 stars

This story flew by me, light and fluttery. Yet look at its title--Wingless! I had to listen to it several times to get a grip on it. Are we in the head of a child before drifting off to sleep? Due to its ambiguity, it fails to speak to me as the first story did. This is more a poem than a short story.

[Bookish · Rating 1 out of 5]

Source: New Yorker Podcast (Read by Edwidge Danticat)

Confused .... This needs a reread.

[Ann Mat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to Edwidge in the New Yorker podcast. Maybe I've listened to Girl and read it a few times over the years, but Wingless really packs a punch for me.

[Shayzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love, acceptance, fear, drowning? Water, see,