Kaplan, McKay, Puntí, Rosenfarb and Shapton
Short Stories in July, August, and September
Whether in a dedicated collection or a magazine, these stories capture a variety of reading moods.
This quarter, I returned to two favourite writers and also explored three new-to-me story writers.
Hester Kaplan’s Unravished (2014)
This landed on my stack because I’ve been exploring IG Publishing’s catalogue: their fiction seems centred on voice and craft. The stories feel a little like something Elizabeth Strout might write, but with more words (more detail, more descriptors, more dialogue).
This collection feels like it swings on this kind of hinge: “Our union was simple math; what he loved about me was that I loved him back. Neither of us had had much of that in our lives, and we knew its worth.”
There are a lot of lives contained between these covers: even though I didn’t read all of the stories, I wouldn’t say this is a collection to be rushed. More one to read periodically, while waiting for a bus on a long commute or settling into a morning with a cup of tea when you’ve risen early enough to allow for unexpected leisure, because these are engaging stories with epiphanies that need time to unfurl in your mind afterwards.
Contents: Unravished, The School of Politics, The Aerialist, Companion Animal, Natural Wonder, Lovesick, Cold-cocked, This is Your Last Swim
Leo McKay Jr’s Like This (1995)
There are lots of outside words in these stories, scenes in gardens and rivers, but other characters watch “The Flintstones” and the CBC in living rooms, eat homemade muffins at the kitchen table, and read Macleans magazine on the bus.
McKay Jr. isn’t afraid of repetition in thought and dialogue and it adds credibility, quickly and cleanly. He’s also unafraid to enter painful places, so a raw kind of vulnerability echoes in the space between story and reader.
“You call this a new start,” she said to Daddy. “I know what kind of start it’ll be.”
Canadian readers who have enjoyed collections by Russell Wangersky, Shaena Lambert and Nancy Lee would also enjoy this classic volume and early nominee for the Giller Prize.
Contents: Angus Fell, Like This, The Ball, Gold Wings, Fidelity, A New Start, Oil, The Name Everybody Calls Me, A Thing Like Snow, The Transformed Sky, In My Heart
Jordi Puntí’s This Is Not America: Stories (2019)
This collection caught my eye because I read and enjoyed Lost Luggage (also translated by Julie Wark). The pieces were commissioned for individual publications, but the voice and energy are consistent, along with a wry sort of sadness against a backdrop that might have seemed more playful in the hands of another writer.
For instance, there is a story about a man who dresses as a clown for work and does not own a vehicle so he must rely on hitchhiking to travel to his gigs.
It’s actually a perfect window into the art of storytelling: “The art of hitchhiking only lets you need normal, ordinary folk. Or so they seem. You open the door, get superficially involved in their lives for a while, then you get out of the car, and they forget you and you forget them. That’s the theory, anyway, because reality changes the plan and puts you to the test.”
And it’s playful, is it not? (He could have been a musician – much more common, surely.) But it’s not fun. Because readers learn too much about Gori, who suffers from attacks of loneliness: “infrequent, mostly benign, but they came without warning and swamped him all day long with false nostalgia for the past, springing not from memory but imagination”.
The man who has not spoken to his brother for many years and receives a note requesting a kidney, a detailed account of infidelity on holiday, a couple who alternates kisses with chips, a man who orders a sandwich and a Coke at the Luxembourg railway station and later meets an author named Jordi Puntí (who’s described as being “almost smarmy”.
Contents: Vertical, Blinker, Kidney, Consolation Prize, My Best Friend’s Mother, Seven Days on the Love Boat, Matter, The Miracle of the Loaves and the Fishes, Patience
Chava Rosenfarb’s Survivors (2004; Trans. Goldie Morgentaler)
It feels shabby to select a favourite story from this volume because there are so many powerful situations illuminated in this volume. “The Greenhorn”, for instance, considers the workplace and emotional experiences of a man who spent some time in Europe following WWII as a Displaced Person before coming to Montreal, Canada.
The way in which he is introduced to the procedure for operating an industrial sized clothing press aligns with his capacity to adjust to life in this new country. His exchanges with other employees reveal complex emotional truths: a wrinkle in fabric is evidence of a pleat pressed much more deeply into his way of being in the world. This is the first story in this collection, but it also was the first I wanted to read, because I remembered it was recommended by Mel at The Reading Life.
Another of Mel’s favourites, however, is the longest story in the collection, “Edgia’s Revenge”, which deals more overtly with the concentration camp experience in WWII, specifically about the way in which a relationship between two women, which begins in the camp when one of them is a Capo and the other is a prisoner, evolves over time, after they have moved to Montreal. The wartime stories are impressive, but just as remarkable for its quiet simplicity, is “A Friday in the Life of Sarah Zonabend”. I’ll be thinking of Sarah this Friday.
This is another recommendation from Mel at The Reading Life, who is a regular source of short-story-reading inspiration (for reading projects too)!
Contents: The Greenhorn, Last Love, A Friday in the Life of Sarah Zonabend, Edgia’s Revenge, Little Red Bird, Francois, Serengeti
Leanne Shapton’s Guest Book: Ghost Stories (2019)
It was her Swimming Studies that won me, but I also appreciated Important Artifacts. Leanne Shapton’s Guest Book: Ghost Stories (2019) is a collection to keep close at hand, to dabble in, not power through.
These are stories which require some investment on the part of readers. Shapton provides the frameworks for narratives, but there is some assembly required. In some instances, it’s as though you are actually writing the story yourself, as in “The Dream” which presents a series of images, of transitory spaces (hallways and staircases) on a spread of pages.
Others, like “At the Foot of the Bed” wash over you, with less of a sense of curiosity and more of a sense of observation: all these beds, mostly made, only one rumpled. Afterwards, a page of endnotes, a sentence or two for each image: all bed-related.
In “Peele House”, one is reminded of those memoirs of houses (like Penelope Lively’s or Rumer Godden’s) and also that lovely and timeful comic Here by Richard McGuire: these photographs are more populated and atmospheric, so that the narrative almost writes itself.
With “Christmas Eve”, I could practically smell the rum in the eggnog and fruitcake: these images of vintage wrapping paper felt so familiar.
This collection will not suit every reader, but some will fall hard and fast for it.
33 Stories in about 300 pages: from “S as in Sam, H, A, P as in Peter, T as in Tom, O, N as in Nancy” to “Causeth Sath”
I am so glad you enjoyed the stories of Chava Rosenfarb. Thanks for the mention.
They’re just wonderful!
I had Swimming Studies out from the library this summer, but it was an ILL and I didn’t get to it. Maybe next time!
I would like to eventually read McKay’s short stories, as well as his novel Roll Up the Rim.
The last short story collection I read was Tracey Waddleton’s new book – Send More Tourists… The Last Ones Were Delicious. It was great fun, but I think is going to be hard to write about. Especially as the gap of time between reading and writing gets wider by the day…
That’s such a good one. I think you might find it interesting what with various pursuits at the edges of your experience (e.g. dance, football). But I just found the ritual of her practice fascinating. (I miss ILL. But not the sense of panic for reading the fruits of it!)
I just read the GR review of that one by J. Jill Robinson and now I want to read it too! (Ironically, I would have to ILL it. laughs)
Everytime I read that title, I chuckle. Maybe just pick one story that has stuck with you and that reflects a lot of the qualities that resurface in the collection? It’s always harder when time passes: I agree!
Hmm… Roll Up the Rim is not too hard to come by around here at the book sales. I’ll keep my eyes open for another copy! 😉 I can’t believe I haven’t read it yet, since I believe it’s set right here. (Although, I could be wrong about that.)
After Leo had rounded up enough sponsors to have it self-published, he sold it at the Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning for a while.
You should be scribbling that down on the 2020 Reading List right now: especially if it’s set right there! (Hopefully before long I can buy a copy myself. But thanks for the offer to watch for an extra copy.) Surely it’s not too early to start next year’s list? Anyone? Anyone? (Bueller voice)
After growing season, there is usually a publisher’s booth at our farmers’ market too. I love seeing that. All my favourite things: veggies, coffee, chocolate, brownies AND books? That’s a little bit of perfect.
Definitely not too early! Scribbled down next to Ducks, Newburyport. 🙂
Awww, I still regret not having made it through my library copy of Ducks, but I returned it (early) when I realised it was hopeless. That’s definitely a good year-long goal though. When else can you say that it took you a year to read a sentence?
I haven’t read any short stories this month, and I often manage at least one collection. I am particularly attracted to that Unravished collection, it does sound like the kind of writing I like. However those Ghost stories sound rather excellent too, I have a new edition of Edith Wharton ghost stories on my pile for October.
My summer was a little slight on them too: I’ve been trying to “make up”!
For some reason, I always get that Wharton collection mixed up with Mrs. Gaskell’s (probably because there aren’t that many spooky tales on the VMC list): I bet it will be good.
Shapton is such an interesting writer. I think you might prefer her Artifacts (the “antique catalogue” collection) because one gets a little more of an attachment to character (these new ones are really short). Wasn’t she one of the judges for the Booker recently?
I just finished reading Frying Plantain, and honestly it’s a collection of short stories but reads more like a novel. Really well-written though, I can see why its on the Giller longlist.
I loved that one and was happy to see it included on the list. (I haven’t read Bezmozgis’ collection yet, to know how I feel about it having shuffled Reid-Benta’s collection to the sidelines for the shortlist now.) My review of it for Prism will be out before too long.
Ohh awesome! Who else do you review for? I’ve never read Prism…but I definitely know of it 🙂
I think the only people who read lit journals are people who are also publishing in them. Maybe partly because only a portion of readers enjoy short fiction and poetry? I’m excited to have a very short review coming out in the next issue of World Literature Today, but I don’t know if it’ll be a regular gig (they have to fit the whole world into every issue – I’m not sure if Canada will always fit LOL).
No short stories lately for me. Hmm. Might need to change that!
I’ve not heard of IG publishing, and I’m another one for whom the Elizabeth Strout comparison draws my interest. And the IG literary fiction section seems to have some other things of interest as well. Your description of the Shapton also gets my interest. Thanks!
Try just one: it might lead to another! (That’s what I say about yoga every day, only five minutes, I say, and then it’s usually 30 or 40 if I can only begin.)
It was an interview with Shelagh Rogers on “The Next Chapter” that got me interested in Shapton’s prose. It’s an old one, but a good one (available via podcast if you don’t mind digging through old episodes).
I’ve sampled/read about ten of their books via the library over the summer and the quality is good and the style/voice/tone appeals to me. IIRC, I “discovered” them when one of their books appeared on the Morning News Tournament of Books, a few years ago.
I’m afraid I haven’t read any short stories recently, but I do have a couple of collections I am hoping to get to soon. Also what is that lovely looking plate of food you’ve got in your first photo?!
Maybe a new reading year’s resolution, read-o-lution? It’s quinoa noodles with sauteed peppers and mushrooms, with a massive side of kale. It’s not necessarily a popular opinion, but I absolutely love kale (with an unreasonable amount of sauteed garlic for cooking and either copious amounts of lemon or sprinkles of chipotle pepper added when taken off the heat)!
Mmm sounds delish BIP – I’m with you: I love kale! And yes, definitely need a read-o-lution to get back to those short stories.
dishes out another serving Had it for lunch again today – but with a less photogenic salad!
I’ve read one novel by Kaplan (The Tell) and DNFed another (Kinship Theory), so she’s a hit and miss author for me. I’ve heard good things about her collection The Edge of Marriage, though.
I’m going to have to find that hitchhiking clown story, if nothing else from Punti!
I’ve been sampling from lots of collections this month: greatly enjoying some, but having trouble sticking with others. I’ll try to keep up the story habit through the rest of the year.
She has a very quiet, interior way of locating a story: I’m sure some readers (and maybe I, in another reading mood) would find them a little too reflective, gentle. The Edge of Marriage is also on my TBR.
He’s a good writer: and perhaps, being overseas, you would have an easier time finding his work as a Spanish storyteller.
Over the summer I have been reading through a list of collections I’d assembled on my library account: they’ve all been good so far, although now I wish I’d made a note of why I’d added them to my list!
Any comparison with Elizabeth Strout piques my interest and I like the sound of the Shapton, too. I thoroughly enjoyed Etgar Keret’s Fly Already, a collection of sometimes very short stories which occasionally takes a surreal turn.
Thank you: I see it’s in the library and the hold list isn’t terribly long. I think you’d love K.D. Miller’s Late Breaking, which you might have heard of already from Naomi: I’m reading it now and thoroughly enjoying it as well (inspired by Alex Colville paintings).