Exit Zero by Marie-Helene Bertino

3/5 stars

What's it about? The twelve strange stories capture endings—of lives, of relationships, of expectations. Vampires, balloon messengers, and even haunted peaches populate Bertino’s reality.

How’d I find it? A dear friend recommended Bertino’s novel Beautyland, so I picked up these stories as well.

Who will enjoy this book? If you liked Out There by Kate Folk or Karen Russell’s Orange World, you’ll want to pick this up.

What stood out? Exit Zero is ripe with ingenuity. A woman inherits a unicorn after her estranged father dies. Another finds herself hopelessly trapped in an episode of Cheers. The sky rains ex-lovers. The title story and “The Night Gardener” are standouts.

Which line made me feel something? From “Flowers and Their Meanings:” “I think of my friend’s daughters peering out from the webbed shade of the screen door. The aluminum sneeze when it snaps back, the cheap, measly circumstances that trap them.”

Waiting for the Fear by Oguz Atay, translated by Ralph Hubbell

3/5 stars

What's it about? In this eerie collection, the stories of Turkish writer Oguz Atay catch folks in disturbing situations, such as discovering the desiccated body of an ex in the attic or receiving a threat in an alien language.

How’d I find it? I must credit the NYRB Classics Book Club for this find.

Who will enjoy this book? If you like the stories of Samanta Schweblin or Anna Kavan, Waiting for the Fear will be right up your alley.

What stood out? Atay favors an imperious tone that brightens these dark tales. The speakers and protagonists of the stories in Waiting for the Fear react to strangeness in manic and paranoid ways. Take, for example, the advice columnist of “Not Yes Not No” who composes a deranged reply to a lovelorn man lacking in letter writing skills: “How can someone so pitiful feel such self-confidence?”

Which line made me feel something? From the title story: “The moon incident had gotten me thinking that I used to dislike nature, but now I wondered if I’d always sort of liked it. I wondered if at some point, because of the trees, the grass or insects that can’t fly, I’d begun in fact to love it.”

Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell

3/5 stars

What's it about? The dark and cruel little stories of Seven Empty Houses explore domestic dangers: loved ones turned enemies, intruders, and even child abduction. A solid collection.

How’d I find it? You can’t go wrong with Samanta Schweblin. If I see something of hers I haven’t read, I pick it up. This copy was discovered at Powell’s.

Who will enjoy this book? Those who enjoy the stories of Ottessa Moshfegh will find much to admire in Seven Empty Houses.

What stood out? The claustrophobia that Schweblin creates throughout the book works its magic, and the tension is a delicious addition to the complex interiors we visit. There’s also a range of emotion for the reader. “Breath from the Depths” will break your heart, while “An Unlucky Man” will make you shudder. Schweblin lets her characters be themselves, even when they’re horrible or selfish.

Which line made me feel something? Lola’s to-do list: “Classify everything. Donate what it is expendable. Wrap what is important. Concentrate on death. If he meddles, ignore him.”

Shadows of Carcosa: Tales of Cosmic Horror by Lovecraft, Chambers, Machen, Poe, and Other Masters of the Weird

5/5 stars

What's it about? This collection of top-notch stories explores atmospheric horror and the dread of the unknown. A book of veritable bangers.

How’d I find it? When I managed a bookstore at Busboys & Poets, this book always caught my eye. Now it’s mine!

Who will enjoy this book? The cryptic editor’s note at the end of the book suggests that this read is meant for the Lovecraft fans, but any horror lover would appreciate.

What stood out? Despite the fact that all the stories are written by men whose oeuvres straddle the 19th and 20 centuries, these tales showcase a diversity of style and subject, united in their pervasive creepiness. “The White People” by Arthur Machen and Ambrose Bierce’s “The Damned Thing” were absolute masterpieces. I didn’t quite understand the meaning of “cosmic horror” or why these pieces were lumped together, but fortunately the work stands alone

Which line made me feel something? This terrifying landscape description from “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” by Ambrose Bierce: “Protruded at long intervals above it, stood strangely shaped and somber-colored rocks, which seemed to have an understanding with one another and to exchange looks of uncomfortable significance, as if they had reared their heads to watch the issue of some foreseen event. A few blasted trees here and there appeared as leaders in this malevolent conspiracy of silent expectation.” Shudder.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver

4/5 stars

What's it about? As bare as they come, this slice of America serves up hard-drinking, hard-loving folks and their myriad violences. Carver lays out these raw tales and doesn’t flinch.

How’d I find it? Some library sale. I may not recall the when or the where, but I remember celebrating the cover of this edition and the smell of its pages, perfectly yellowed and of the pulp variety.

Who will enjoy this book? For fans of the film Birdman and Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson, another all-time great story collection.

What stood out? Carver rips out your literary heart and pours himself another bourbon. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is a book for writers, a revelation of short fiction. The effortless craft of this book amazed me. Readers, beware: there are no tricks here. If you don’t love the first twenty pages, you’re not going to love the rest of them.

Which line made me feel something? I couldn’t get enough of how the titles of these stories carry so much weight, often some abrupt devastation, exemplified in this parting shot from “The Calm:” “But today I was thinking of that place, of Crescent City, and of how I was trying out a new life there with my wife, and how, in the barber’s chair that morning, I had made up my mind to go. I was thinking today about the calm I felt when I closed my eyes and let the barber’s fingers move through my hair, the sweetness of those fingers, the hair already starting to grow.”

Liberation Day by George Saunders

3/5 stars

What's it about? George Saunders tinkers with technology, absurdity, and amusement parks in this collection of nine short stories.

How’d I find it? You know when you go into a bookstore on a Tuesday when the fresh titles are laid out, and you see not only a new book from a favorite author, but also that it’s signed? I had that experience at Solid State Books.

Who will enjoy this book? If you like the work of Karen Russell or Stephen Millhauser, these stories strike similar notes.

What stood out? As usual, Saunders brings wit and playfulness to the page, and his writing sparkles. “Mother’s Day” and “Elliott Spencer” were the book’s most successful stories. Much of Liberation Day reads like retooled versions of past powerhouses; the title story recalls Tenth of December’s “The Semplica Girl Diaries,” while “Ghoul” shares elements with “Bounty”. Having recently finished CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, I received this collection as an entertaining echo.

Which line made me feel something? I related cosmically to the narrator of “The Mom of Bold Action,” whose deluge of thoughts seems to keep her from ever actually writing: “‘The Discontented Dog.’ The Discontented Dog was never happy. No matter how many peanut-butter thingies he was given. When he was in, he wanted out. When out — She grabbed another peanut-butter thingie from the box. ‘The Peanut-Butter Thingie Who Sacrificed Himself So the Other Peanut-Butter Thingies in the Box Could Live.’”

Out There by Kate Folk

4/5 stars

What's it about? Kate Folk’s debut story collection wanders the weird, the creepy, and the obsessive. Populated by characters who throw up their hands and give in, Out There holds a mirror up to the inanity of the 21st century.

How’d I find it? This Electric Lit article. “Dark playfulness:” book-buying catnip?

Who will enjoy this book? Those who loved Karen Russell’s Orange World and Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties will want to pick up Out There.

What stood out? The creativity in these stories makes for a dynamic read. There’s a house that “needs moisture.” A violent Thanksgiving tradition. A clinic for people with Total Nocturnal Bone Loss. Folk writes them all with humor and a touch of Cronenberg grossness. The first and last stories (“Out There” and “Big Sur”), about handsome AI that seduce women in order to steal their identities, are the book’s finest achievements.

Which line made me feel something? This description of dating at 30 really hit home: “Sam slept in a sleeping bag wadded at the center of a king-sized bed. There was a closet in the hallway where he kept his camping gear, and from which he retrieved a spare pillow for me to sleep on, still in its wrapping, as if he’d bought it for this purpose. At the foot of the bed was a Rubbermaid container full of folded T-shirts and socks. On its lid sat an electric kettle he used to boil water for coffee, so he wouldn’t have to go upstairs.” Oh, I have met Sam.

The Complete Stories of Truman Capote

4/5 stars

What's it about? Capote dazzles and delights in his short fiction, ordered here chronologically, that captures the angst of youth in the rural South, the loneliness of mid-century American cities, and the intricacies of nuanced sexuality.

How’d I find it? A dear friend of mine knew Truman Capote and dismissed him as a “fascinating drunk.” The comment inspired me to read him all the more, having adored In Cold Blood.

Who will enjoy this book? If you appreciate F. Scott Fitzgerald, you’ll love these smart tales. Let’s be real: this book appeals to all short story aficionados.

What stood out? I started reading this book at the end of a New York trip, and it suited the occasion perfectly. Take this collection with you in the bustle of a city. Read it in a crowded bar. These stories of daily failure, from a Haitian prostitute settling down, to a child examining his unusual relationship with an adult cousin, prove Capote’s gift in crafting vivid worlds. “Jug of Silver” and “The Headless Hawk” were standouts.

Which line made me feel something? This horrific little detail from “The Headless Hawk:” “Dusk, and nightfall, and the fibers of sounds called silence wove a shiny blue mask. Waking, he peered through eyeslits, heard the frenzied pulsebeat of his watch, the scratch of a key in a lock. Somewhere in this hour of dusk a murderer separates himself from shadow and with a rope follows the flash of silk legs up doomed stairs.“

Two Nurses, Smoking by David Means

3/5 stars

What's it about? In these sometimes connected stories, people grapple with anguish, loss, and choices. David Means writes an earnest collection that wants us to feel something.

How’d I find it? I read in Harper's “Stopping Distance,” in which a man and woman connect through a bereavement group for parents who have lost children, and went out to pick up the book that contained it. Politics and Prose always has the goods.

Who will enjoy this book? This read strongly reminded me of The Sadness of Beautiful Things and will appeal to fans of Simon Van Booy. Dog lovers, the story “Clementine, Carmelita, Dog” will bring you to tears and make your day. Means did well to lead the collection with this stunner.

What stood out? Aside from the aforementioned Homeward Bound-esque tale, I enjoyed the two Harper’s stories best, the other being "The Red Dot,” about a local restaurateur who questions everything when he sees his ex-wife kayaking. “The Depletion Prompts” closes the collection, an interesting take on craft that offers context for the preceding stories. The book’s Achilles’ heel is forced sentiment that occasionally shouts from the page. I couldn’t always buy in.

Which line made me feel something? Means sure loves a long sentence, and this snippet from “The Red Dot” is a beaut: “We were both thinking, I’m sure, about the dangerous currents that ran all the way up the estuary, dug deep by retreating glaciers, or volcanic activity, a ridge meeting the sea so that the sea and the river battled each other twice a day, if you want to look at it that way, or, better yet, lovingly embraced each other in a mutual, moon-drawn embrace, running silently through the darkness of night and in the heat of day past all the human folly and abject sadness we create when we’re here, as it would when we were long gone—just bones and earth”.

CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders

4/5 stars

What's it about? George Saunders mines the human condition in a witty collection with sprinklings of the dark consumerism and theme park background of Westworld. A masterfully executed first book.

How’d I find it? A friend who loves George Saunders gave my spouse this copy. I got to it first.

Who will enjoy this book? What are you waiting for? Saunders is an American treasure that always deserves a read. But, in the interest of following my self-imposed formula, fans of Nana Adjei-Brenyah, who studied under Saunders, will find inspirations for both Friday Black and Chain-Gang All-Stars in CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. Watchers of Black Mirror and Neil Gaiman should enjoy the book’s themes and humor.

What stood out? The writing is impeccable: irreverent, funny, and joyfully spot-on. You’ll be laughing out loud and thinking to yourself, “Man, he nailed it.” Saunders intuitively understands when to tickle the brain or strum a heartstring; the turns surprise and delight. The title story and the novella “Bounty” are particular standouts.

Which line made me feel something? The last paragraph of the story “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline” is perfection, but it would be unfair to spoil it. Here’s an excellent tidbit from “Bounty:” “Discipline and other forms of negativity are shunned. Bedtimes don’t exist. Face wiping is discouraged. At night the children charge around nude and screaming until they drop in their tracks, ostensibly feeling good about themselves. ‘We ran the last true farm,’ one of the kids screams at me. ‘Until the government put us out,’ the wife says softly. She’s pretty the way a simple white house in a field is pretty. ‘Now we’re on the fucking lam,’ says a toddler. Both parents smile fondly.”