Odditorium

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A Public Space, AGNI, American Fiction, Bellevue Literary Press, Ben George, Boulevard, Bradford Murrow, Brigid Hughes, Conjunctions, Ecotone, editors, Erika Goldman, Fiction, Gregory Wolfe, IMAGE, Leslie Hodgkins, Literary Fiction, literary journals, Literature, Melissa Pritchard, Odditorium, Richard Burgin, Short fiction, Short Stories, Sven Birkerts, Writers

Melissa Pritchard, the author of the short story collection entitled “Odditorium” is not unknown. Her earlier short fiction collections were New York Times Notable Book and Editor’s Choice selections and she has received a variety of literary awards. Unfortunately, no award could do justice to this collection. The breadth of her scholarship and imagination, and her accomplished prose left me dazzled.

After reading the first story “Pelagia, Holy Fool” I was as dizzy as the whirling urchin or angel that beguile and unnerve her 19th Russian village of Arzamas. Dervish in ecstasy on behalf of Christ, or merely insane, society bruises and buries the unwashed, both saints and sinners alike. This is a Russian folktale, a Grimm fairy tale, a fable with three morals. Curiously, “Odditorium” is published by Bellevue Literary Press, which is based in New York City. I originally thought Ms. Pritchard and her publisher were winding her readers up because it is the literary press of NYU School of Medicine, and Bellevue Hospital has its share of patients who are insane. In fact, Bellevue Literary Press is a well-regarded indie press.

Ms. Pritchard acknowledges Erika Goldman and Leslie Hodgkins editors at Bellevue Press, as well as noting the original editors at the literary journals where these stories were first published. I think more authors should do this. Given Ms. Pritchard’s imagination, I suspect some stories would not be easy to edit, and I would love to compare the original drafts with the final product. “Pelagia” first appeared in IMAGE and was edited by Gregory Wolfe.

“Watanya Cicilia” began disappointingly for me. It seemed disjointed: two distinct plots running on separate tracks. The first is about an abused child in Ohio in the 1870s. The second is about Sitting Bull. It comes together because the little girl is a sharpshooter who finds a home in the Wild West Show.

A great con artist knows how to mesh some facts with fiction. Jim Crace, the author of this year’s Booker short-listed “Harvest” writes historical fiction, without defining the period. It is a fictionalized account that seems to be an accurate period piece. “Ecorché Flayed Man” is a character and period study of the late 18th Century Italian anatomist Clemente Susini; the father of modern toxicology and first Director of the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze (the Museum of Zoology and Natural History), Felice Fontana; and the collector of cadavers, Il Cinzio. The museum is next to the Pitti Palace and is known as La Specola. It houses the anatomical waxes of Susini and Gaetano Zumbo which were used for medical training during the Renaissance. As in “Peligia”, this imaginary tale has alternative fairy tale, mythic, and miraculous endings. “Ecorche” first appeared in A Public Space, where the editor is Brigid Hughes, the former editor of The Paris Review.

Having left 19th Century Russia, 19th Century America, and 18th Century Florence, Ms. Pritchard’s next stop is England on the verge of D-Day. Specifically, the locale is the behemouth Royal Victoria Military Hospital near Netley Abbey on the Southeast coast. Our guide is a regimented American Captain, who has been charged with command of the hospital in preparation for the D-Day landing. A man ordered by task and promotion, through him Ms. Pritchard surveys history, geography and relationships lost. It is narrated, but, unlike the prior stories, is emotionally attached to the well-developed character. You have to marvel at Ms. Pritchard’s command of place and time. Hers are stories that educate you. This story first appeared in Ecotone and was edited by Ben George.

“The Hauser Variations (As Sung by Male Voices, A Capriccio)” is similar in theme to “Pelagia, Holy Fool.” The score is a variation on the life of a feral child, in Nuremberg Germany, during the first half of the 19th Century. It is a cruel story of psychology, abuse, and culture. Ms. Pritchard’s story “Odditorium” tells the story of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, from the vantage point of the fact-checker. The unique and the peculiar are marveled at. Here it is the freak, the abandoned child, whose difference is a tormented mirror. “The Hauser Variations” first appeared in Conjunctions and the editor was Bradford Morrow.

“Patricide” by comparison is a light dark tale of two failed and tarnished sisters who meet to discuss their dying father’s Will. It is the description of a certain type of genteel Southern hotel setting that stands-out. It oozes old Virginia. The story first appeared in Boulevard and Richard Burgin was the editor.

The “Nine-Gated City” has you traveling again. The locale is modern-day Delhi. An attractive middle-aged female U.S. journalist has come to spec to interview an Indian advocate about sex-trafficking in Southeast Asia. This is a story about loneliness, pampered liberalism, false saviors, and the economic divide that is India. The story is transporting. For about three-quarters I thought this was a near-perfect story. For me the ending was disappointing. I would have preferred it to stay open-ended. The story first appeared in AGNI 70 and was edited by Sven Birkerts.

It is rare that I would think about reading a collection of short stories twice. This is one collection that I would. I suspect that many of the esteemed editors of these stories have helped Ms. Pritchard develop her craft. I have never understood when critics claim that authors are “fearless”. What is the worst that could happen? However, if there is risk in being imaginative and stepping outside of certain norms for publishers, then Ms. Pritchard and all of her editors are risk-takers and her readers are beneficiaries.

Byzantium

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American Fiction, Ben Stroud, book reviews, books, Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, Byzantium, Christian Fiction, Fiction, Graywolf Press, Short fiction, Short Stories

“Byzantium” is the first story in Ben Stroud’s collection of short stories of the same name. It is set in the time of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclitus, soon after his defeat of the Persians in the Battle of Ninevah in 627 AD. Heraclitus was at the height of his power. He had regained Asia Minor, returned the True Cross to Jerusalem, brought Christianity to the Balkans, and changed the language of the Roman Empire from Latin to Greek. The plot of the story juxtaposes faith and political power because of the occupational paranoia of emperors. The son of a fictional general removed from command by Emperor Phocas, before Heraclitus the Elder deposed him, is a disappointment to his father because of the physical deformity of his arm. His mother has a vision that it will be cured by a holy man. The monk, Theodosius, is considered a threat by Heraclitus and sends the general’s son to see him at the Monastery of the Five Holy Martyrs. Theodosius is also the name of the son of Emperor Phocas’ predecessor, Emperor Maurice. The Persians substituted an imposter for the predeceased Theodosius as a pretext to invade the Byzantine Empire to restore him as emperor. Whether Mr. Stroud intentionally named his monk Theodosius to heighten Heraclitus’ paranoia is unclear. The choice of the Five Holy Martyrs is also an interesting choice given the plot and that Heraclitus was a defender of Christianity. Facially, this is a simple tale of a son trying to ultimately please a more fabled father. Its historical and Christian underpinnings add depth and make it more compelling.

“East Texas Lumber”, “Don’s Cinnamon”, and “Borden’s Meat Biscuit” are by contrast narrative romps: character studies of a couple of Texas laborers whose intent of a good-time interfere with their job; a colored private investigator trying to balance employment and prejudice in Havanna; and a failed inventor trying to find his brass ring in post-Civil War Galveston.

I am unaware whether there ever was a religious commune of Hebronites that settled in Mackinac Michigan in the second half the 19th Century. “The Traitor of Zion” is about a calling during this time to this location. The calling is to The Book of Truths. As with many cults there is fluidity between extremes, with reduction of the truth to group acceptance.

“Eraser” and “At Boquillas” are about lost people. The first about a child faced with a domineering step-father and indifferent mother. It is a story that has been told before, but it is impactful nonetheless. The second story is about a woman in a new marriage with a falandering husband. She discovers her backbone and voice.

“Tayopa” follows the protagonist’s renewal of his life while in search of a mine.”Amy” looks at falandering in a new marriage from the husband’s perspective. “The Moor” is a fictional biography of a reknowned black detective in late 19th Century Europe, whose love life is curtailed by bigoted mores.

Ben Stroud is the recipient of the 2012 Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference Bakeless Prize that is published by Graywolf Press. The stories in this collection are good stories and evidence a range of style and scholarship.

The Man Back There

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American Fiction, American Literature, Book review, books, David Crouse, Fiction, Male Fiction, Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction, Sarabande Books, Short Stories, The Man Back There

Sarabande Books awards the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction. I previously favorably reviewed the short story collection of a recipient of this prize: Laura Kasischke. David Crouse was the 2007 award recipient for his short story collection “The Man Back There”. The latter is the initial story in the collection. The plot is simple. A middle aged divorcee punches his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend because he had insulted her a few months before. He wants to let it go, she wants the attention. The story lowered my expectations for the collection. “Castle on the Hill” was a little more compelling. A male divorcee cannot fill his empty life as a dog-catcher and crashes his ex-wife’s new family’s Thanksgiving. It is a capable story, but not in an award-winning class.

The third story, and some thereafter, are the charm. All the stories in this anthology are psychological studies of a certain segment of the U.S. male species. Some are quite disturbing.

“Show and Tell” is unexpectedly the best. If you are drawn into a story by the first line, this is not the story for you. The story’s is misleadingly the give away. The first line is simply “The Decapitated Android”. It is a subtitle for each of the broken toys that a boy appropriates from another boy that he plays with. The actual first line is “Someone has twisted off its head.” Young boys do violence to toys and to each other. The lines between a phase and juvenile delinquency, between stable and unstable families, are blurred. You worry about this boy’s mind and future.

“Posterity” concerns a career politician who at the other end of life’s spectrum has lost his mental faculties. He believes that running on auto-pilot, the instinctive practiced glibness of the profession, will see him through. It doesn’t.

I think of “The Forgotten Kingdom” as a sequel to “Show and Tell”. The boy is a young man who avoided juvenile delinquency. He is a young man whose job at a closing software game company is to dispense phone clues to those challenged to complete its video games. The video game is a metaphor for the unskilled who lead empty lives and have no clue how to meet life’s challenges.

In “What We Own” the boys are initially not so lucky. They do not avoid juvenile delinquency. There is family dysfunction but it may not be the cause. As in “The Observable Universe” communication is difficult when there is mental or physical illness. I was emotionally drawn to the father in “What We Own”. Illness is not always victim-less. It is a compelling story.

“Dear” leaves you guessing who are the victims of a philandering professor. The last story “Torture Me” is about secret lives of responsible people. A wife discovers her husband’s dark sexual interest in a video that he leaves on his desk under a few papers. He is ambivalent about whether he is S or M. It is unclear whether his interest is mere desire or self-destruction of his quiet responsible life? For those who live in NYC, Anthony Weiner maybe one case study.

On the whole, I agree with Mary Gaitskill who selected these stories. “They made me feel”.

The Beautiful Indifference

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Book review, books, english literature, Fiction, Literature, Sarah Hall, Short Stories, The Beautiful Indifference, Women's Literature

Sarah Hall’s collection of short stories are about females not of a certain age: old. The characters range from young Cumbrian girls in the “Butcher’s Perfume” to early middle age; with a mean of 30s’ relationships. Ms. Hall, who was born in Cumbria, England, through the insecurities of women in tenuous relationships, explores the universal divide between country and city, married and single.

In “Bees” a young farm woman, recovering from an abusive relationship, moves into her friend from school London flat. She hopes to find safe harbor and emotional reconstruction, but she is sleepless and spends time in the flat’s small garden trying to unravel a daily assortment of dead bees. A Cumbrian woman is having a sexual relationship with a lover from London in “The Beautiful Indifference”. Her married country friends cackle she is deferring “the hard things in life.” The must decide how to cast herself as her citified love relationship is tinged with pain and pleasure.

Insecure relationships are played out on holiday in “She Murdered Mortal He” and “Vuotjärvi”. In the former, A woman goes for a walk along a deserted South African resort’s beach after her boyfriend suddenly breaks up with her. The “murdered mortal he” is the boyfriend, but which bitch is responsible is unclear. In the latter story, a Finnish holiday ends in disappearance or death. This is a serious relationship, but there is hope and fear. The boyfriend does return from his swim to one of the islands and the woman goes in search. Self-preservation is rationalized in each story.

Death is a result in “Butcher’s Perfume”. An initially brutish coming of age tale of Cumbrian girls with distinct sexual and moral proclivities, death is the adhesive. A lighter story, country women in “The Agency” find an outlet to walk on the wild side.

The best story in my opinion is “The Nightlong River”. It is beautifully written tale of humanity between two young women, one of whom is near death. Its venue is the country, told by one who is familiar with nature, the culture of hunting, and gender roles. The first paragraph sets the scene.

” We knew from the November berries what the next months would bring. Everywhere they were hung and clotted in the bushes, ripe and red, like blisters of blood. The hollies came out in autumn, and gave us ideas about selling genuine wreaths at the Hired Lad during Advent, rather than staining ivy with sheep raddle as we’d done in the balder years. Rose hips clung on well past their season, until the birds eventually went with them. The yarrow and rowan hung out their own gaudy bunting. But it was the hawthorn that was the truest messenger that year, for it’d blossomed wildly in May too. The hawthorn sent the hedgerows ruddy as a battle. It meant a full season of snow. It meant hoar frosts that would stop the hearts of mice in their burrows and harden tree sap under its white grip. The ground would only ever half thaw until spring, like a clod of beef brought from the pantry and moved from cold room to cold room. Flocks would be lost under drifts.”

Ms. Hall is a well-known award winning author. She has been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, received the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and others. Her novels include “Haweswater”, “The Electric Michelangelo”, “Daughters of the North” and “How to Paint a Dead Man”. Her prose in these stories, apart from “The Nightlong River” is unbellished and journeyman descriptive of scene. The latter is not meant in criticism, because these stories are character driven. They are quick and easy reads, and remain merely entertaining light fare. Interestingly, “Butcher’s Perfume”, my second favorite story in the collection, and “Vuotjarvi” were both short-listed for prizes. “The Nightlong River” originally was published online in http://www.pulp.net under the title “Mink”. Reading is personal.