Apple, Tree

Lise Funderburg is a writer and editor and a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania. Funderburg’s collection of oral histories, Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk about Race and Identity, has become a core text in the study of American multiracial identity in college courses around the world. Her latest book is Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, National Geographic, Salon and the Nation.Complete list of contributors: Karen Grigsby Bates, S. Bear Bergman, Kate Carroll de Gutes, Leland Cheuk, Lolis Eric Elie, Carolyn Ferrell, John Freeman, Lauren Grodstein, Jane Hamilton, Susan Ito, Mat Johnson, Donna Masini, Daniel Mendelsohn, Marc Mewshaw, Laura Miller, Kyoko Mori, Ann Patchett, Dana Prescott, Lizzie Skurnick, Avi Steinberg, Angelique Stevens, Clifford Thompson, Shukree Hassan Tilghman, Sallie Tisdale, and Laura van den Berg.

"These essays, in addition to being resonant in their own right, will also move readers to recollect stories of their own parents."-Publishers Weekly, starred review “Apple, Tree is an unflinching exploration of the complicated geography of families. At once heartfelt and searching, these affecting stories remind us that parental likenesses once shunned can surprise, move, and reconnect us in unexpected ways.”-Andrea Barnet, author of Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall, and Alice Waters Changed Our World

• IntroductionLise FunderburgPredictionsLaura van den BergCurtainsSallie TisdaleLies My Parents (Never but Maybe Should've) Told MeShukree Hassan TilghmanBetter AngelsClifford ThompsonThe Only Light We've GotAngelique StevensHousehold IdolsAvi SteinbergJust Say the WordLizzie SkurnickAll Knotted UpDana PrescottSistersAnn PatchettOne Man's PoisonKyoko MoriUnlived LivesLaura MillerA Measure of PerversityMarc MewshawOff, Off, Off, Off, OffDaniel MendelsohnWhat We KeepDonna MasiniMy Story about My MotherMat JohnsonNever Have Just One BossSusan ItoSpending the SparkleJane HamiltonAround the TableLauren GrodsteinThis Truth about ChaosJohn FreemanNo Indifferent PlaceCarolyn FerrellAnd Niriko Makes FourLolis Eric ElieFragments from the Long GameKate Carroll de GutesSelf-Made MenLeland CheukThe Nut Doesn't Fall Far from the Fucking Nut TreeS. Bear BergmanThe Feeding GeneKaren Grigsby BatesAcknowledgmentsContributors