Read as part R of the “Along the Library
Shelf” reading journey
Chosen because
My eye was drawn by the unusual cover
showing a hotel door handle, complete with hanger displaying the book title rather
than Do Not Disturb. A peek inside revealed a collection of short stories (not
previously featured in the journey) and the opening pages of the first one soon
hooked me in.
The Review
The seven stories, ranging from 14 to 60
pages, show slices of contemporary middle income life in the USA.
In ‘Futures’ a job interview has an
unexpected outcome. In ‘The Rest of It’ and ‘When in Rome’ professional men move
out of their comfort zone into murkier depths of society. The prospect of an
extra-marital adventure arises in ’Ladies and Gentlemen’, as in ‘Middleman’ does
the chance for an adolescent to finally connect with an out-of-his-league
dream-girl. ‘In the Basement’ questions whether beauty is only skin deep and
‘The Suicide Room’ draws some college kids into dangerous territory.
These well-varied story situations are used
mainly to provide a stage to examine a range of personal relationships and interaction;
as such not all have a neat resolution, indeed some are left deliberately, and
not inappropriately, ambiguous.
The prose is sharp and the dialogue
particularly authentic, which makes for a satisfying read in bite size, meaty
chunks.
Read another?
It would be interesting to see his style and
characterisation operating in a full length novel, so I will look out for ‘Mr
Peanut’.
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