Party Girls

Born and raised in Cleveland, Diane Goodman lived in Miami Beach for fifteen years before relocating to Phoenix in August 2012. She became an Associate Professor of English at Grand Canyon University in January 2015. Diane has a PhD in English from Case Western Reserve University, a Masters in English from the University of Delaware, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Antioch University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Science Writing from Denison University. Diane’s publications include three collections of short stories (Party Girls, Autumn House Press, 2011; The Plated Heart, Carnegie Mellon Press, 2006; The Genius of Hunger, Carnegie Mellon Press, 2001) and various poems and nonfiction essays and articles in literary journals and magazines.

"In Party Girls, her third collection of short stories, Diane Goodman deftly explores community, class, and culture through the allure of the party—the desire to throw one, the work it takes to pull it off, and the surprising and sometimes devastating ways these seemingly lighthearted events can alter the lives of the people who attend them. Goodman’s writing displays the finesse of a professional hostess. She mixes intimacy, expectation, and protocol into an adept examination of how contemporary manners and mores battle against the fundamental needs of friendship, acceptance, and belonging. In these accomplished stories, Goodman invites us to be her guest as she explores the emotional issues that ultimately derail the best intentions, leaving us with the question one of the characters asks: What do people want from each other? Using food as a common theme, Goodman expertly cuts across class lines to reveal the souls of her memorable characters with subtlety and compassion." —Publishers Weekly