Biblio File

Book Notes From The Underground: November 2015

Here are some recently published titles that may appeal to you if you are a fan of reading short stories:

The Visiting Privilege: New and Collected Stories by Joy Williams
Joy Williams is often described as being a “writer’s writer.” Some people use this term as a backhanded compliment—implying that the writer is too ethereal or eccentric to be appreciated by most readers. Happily, as applied to Williams, that term is not pejorative. Williams is far from being too ethereal—she’s too funny for that. Her wit is on full display in these 48 stories (13 of them new)—in all its sardonic, acerbic glory. There are very few modern masters of the short story—Joy Williams is certainly one of them.

Eyes: Novellas and Stories by William H. Gass
Speaking of modern masters, William Gass has a new collection of two novellas and four stories out. Now admittedly, Gass is one of those writers that you either love or hate (“ethereal” would most certainly apply here), but if you love perfectly crafted prose, then you may want to give this collection a try, though the subject matter may be a tad eccentric. For instance, in “Don’t Even Try, Sam,” the filming of Casablanca is described from the perspective of the piano, and in “Soliloquy for an Empty Chair”, a barbershop folding chair (the one that has “a sense of humor”) narrates the changes that occur in the neighborhood.

Mothers, Tell Your Daughters: Stories by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Campbell was a National Book Award Finalist for her 2009 collection American Salvage. In her new collection, she focuses on the stories of working-class women who have struggled all their lives and battle to prevent their daughters from making the same mistakes that they made. This is a heartbreaking yet honest look at a group of women whose dreams are modest (wanting a place “where each of us has our own room and closet”), but still sometimes unattainable.

Fox Tooth Heart: Stories by John McManus
Many of McManus’s characters are beyond quirky. Better descriptors would be bizarre or freakish. The cast of characters in “The Gateway to the Ozarks” are clones of ex-presidents. The protagonist of “Gainliness” uses needle-nosed pliers to pick his nose and likes to eat toothpaste. But perhaps the best indicator of the strangeness of his people is the opening narration by the rock star protagonist of “Elephant Sanctuary”: “"The story of the creation of my elephant vampire songs begins on the December morning when I killed Aisling, heroine of our last album and my fiancée, in one Jaguar and fled Texas in another." Despite the surfeit of odd behavior, rest assured that McManus’s characters are—deep down—as normal as the rest of us.

You Have Never Been Here: Stories by Mary Rickert
There is a gothic element to Rickert’s new collection. Ghosts are frequently ambling through the scenery, people sprout wings or grow hooves, and death—and the loss it engenders—is ever present. Although Rickert’s tone is often melancholy and moody, there is also an undercurrent of whimsy that keeps the reader from being swallowed up in darkness. If you’re a fan of Kelly Link, or Angela Carter, this might be a collection for you.