#366 The Brief Debut of Tildy

#366 The Brief Debut of Tildy- O.Henry

Wow, 366! We’ve finished one whole year of short stories.

I’d like to end the year, where it began: O. Henry, the inspiration for this project and its most frequently read author. This story is another New York City atmosphere piece. The atmosphere is a greasy spoon diner called Bogle’s Chop House and Family Restaurant. The food is tasteless, and the owner is cold.

“At the cashier’s desk sits Bogel, cold, sordid, slow, smouldering, and takes your money. Behind a mountain of toothpicks he makes your change, files your check, and ejects at you, like a toad, a word about the weather.”

Rating: 7-6-7-6 Total= 26

BLOG UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who read the blog and followed along this year. I’m not sure exactly how much longer I will continue. It was supposed to be only 1 year, but ended up reading over 1,000 series, so i plan on posting one a day for at least that long.

#365 Big-Dot Day- Lucia Perillo

#365 Big-Dot Day- Lucia Perillo

Arnie and his mother are moving again. This time from Las Vegas to Washington State. New year, new state, new boyfriend for Mom. This one is called Jay, not Ray, that was the last guy.

“Arnie new the guy’s name was Jay, but the old guy’s name had been Ray and Arnie was afraid of mixing them up. Like the lizard and the attack ship [the toys he brought] they were mostly interchangeable: same body…but with different heads. Over the years, the guys stayed the same age while his mother got older. In this way they were the one constant she maintained.”

I like that idea: change being the only constant. Arnie also liked fishing, and hoped hat being so close to the ocean meant better fishing. He sees quickly that he has a learning curve ahead of him.

“Suddenly Arnie realized that they hadn’t just come to the end of the earth but another planet where he didn’t even know the basic rules of life.”

Rating: 8-7-9-7 Total= 28

#364 Family Reunion- Kirsten Valdez-Quade

#364 Family Reunion- Kirsten Valdez-Quade

Claire lived with her mother, her step-dad, and her sister in a Mormon-dominated community. They were atheist, and for a young girl being that kind of different was hard:

-“By age eleven, Claire understood that the best way to overcome her disadvantages was to convert.”

-“At church and school, Claire hid the truth about her own family”

-“Claire became adept at playing Mormon, and while she never fooled anyone, at least she didn’t offend anyone, either.”

She found a good friend, Morgan, who didn’t seem to mind their differences, until Claire was invited to go with Morgan’s family to a family reunion. Only it wasn’t a family reunion. Claire could either be saved, cast into the outer darkness, or just freaked out by another disturbed, alcoholic parent.

Overall I’m enjoying this collection of stories. However, as in many of them, this one could have been pared down by ten or so pages. I find too much dialogue that doesn’t add to the story much. In a longer medium, such excess might add pace, or character depth, but in a short story just adds length.

After one whole year of short stories, I’m starting to believe that great short stories have meaning or intent behind most of its content. A short story has a certain shape based on where it’s headed and where it’s been. If there is something we don’t need to hear, most likely it should be cut. Of course, there are always exceptions, and I reserve the right to be wrong on this or change my mind.

Rating: 7-8-7-7= 29

#363 Self-Design Faults in the Volvo 760 Turbo: A Manual

#363 Self-Design Faults in the Volvo 760 Turbo: A Manual

There are many different kinds of humor, but for the sake of this story, lets say there are only two. There is the kind of humor where something is funny and you laugh, physically, verbally, noticeably, etc. Then there is the type of humor where you cerebrally recognize something is funny, don’t actually laugh and say something like: “Hey, that clever.” Will Self writes this second type of humor. I sometimes find it clever, but never actually laugh out loud.

This is written as a car safety manual, containing sections headed: “instruments and Controls,” “Body and Interior,” “Starting and Driving,” “Wheel and Tyres.” What it really is a manifesto for urban adultery. Bill is trying to rationalize his infidelity and like the ego/id-driven male archetype, he connects sex with automobiles. See? Clever!

Rating: 7-8-6-6 Total= 27

#362 The Dive Bar- Katherine Heiny

#362 The Dive Bar- Katherine Heiny

This is the first story in the debut book by Katherine Heiny, Single, Carefree, Mellow. This is my first time reading anything by Heiny…she had me at Dive Bar. I like dive bars, I like drinking at dive bars…hell I just like drinking. Of course this story isn’t really about a dive bar.

What I do like about this story is the setting, New York City. There are a lot of writers that are from, have lived in, or pretend to understand NYC. Not all of them succeed. Having moved away from NY just a year ago, and recently returned, reading about the bar and singles scene in Manhattan makes my heart twitch just a bit.

It’s small things, but familiar things, like Sasha and Monique deciding where to drink by walking towards each other on Broadway, and just stop in whichever bar they meet in front of.

“Sarah looks up and sees Monique down the block, and has that thrill you get from seeing someone familiar on the streets of New York, like looking through a box of old paperbacks at a garage sale and finding a copy of a novel you love.”

This collection is about being single. Heiny’s writing style is easy and treats this topic without pretense. So far, she gracefully avoids stereotypes of gender norms, which is hard when dealing with such a topic.

Now I want to go hit up a dive bar and talk with a friend about topics, both meaningful and not.

Rating: 8-8-8-8 Total= 32