Chris’s Picks
October 2014
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Stay Up With Me, Tom Barbash; Published 09/10/13
Bobcat, Rebecca Lee; Published 06/11/13
One More Thing, BJ Novak; Published 02/04/14
The Un-Americans, Molly Antopol; Published 01/27/14
I am a fan of the short story writing genre. Alice Munro, of course, is the grand master of the short story, and to discuss this genre without giving her a mention is impossible—she is simply a genius.
But here are four new writers of the short story. I read these four collections over the course of this year and felt they all deserved an acknowledgement, though I will concentrate on the most recently read, Molly Antopol’s The Un-Americans. (Of the four, BJ Novak’s was my least favorite; it is often very funny; often profane; but too often, for me, downright silly. Here is a hint, though– read it from beginning to end or you will miss the little inside jokes he sneaks in throughout the book.)
Barbash and Lee are just remarkable writers; their stories are heartfelt and true. I loved “Bobcat” so much I purchased it after reading the library copy so I could have it for myself.
Molly Antopol is a young writer, one of the winners of the “5 Under 35” National Book Awards for new young fiction authors; this is her first book. But her youth is nowhere evident in her writing. The wonderful thing about a great short story writer is the ability to compress an event, or even a lifetime, into just a bit of space where every written word is a thoughtful, measured choice by the author. I found myself savoring so many of Antopol’s beautifully turned phrases and paragraphs. This is a writer of “seismic talent” exclaims author Adam Johnson (The Orphan Master’s Son), and he is right.
Many of Antopol’s stories are derived from her own family history, with the characters brought forth from Jerusalem, Prague, the Ukraine. The common bond in the stories is the link between parents, or grandparents, from the “Old World”, and their children who have left to come to America (thus the book’s title). The stories of courage, love, anguish, hope, and despair are unique to each character, but also universal. We recognize, and then relate. Each story is interesting; some I loved more than others. But the first story, The Old World, and especially the last, Retrospective, are so wrenchingly sad and beautiful you want to reread them immediately, even though your heart still feels trampled upon.