A book that sounds like a horror book, but is not. Although some truly terrifying things do happen. If you\u2019re a new parent, the last story comes with an even bigger \u201cbe prepared and take care of yourself\u201d TW than Victor LaValle\u2019s <\/a>The Changeling<\/a><\/em>. But it\u2019s very good, every time I say I\u2019m done reading short story collections, I pick up something from Tin House like Kim Fu\u2019s <\/a>Lesser Known Monsters Of The 21st Century<\/a><\/em> (also not a horror collection) or Joy Williams\u2019s <\/a>99 Stories of God<\/a><\/em> and get excited about short stories all over again. This book absolutely got me excited about short stories. I\u2019m talking, of course, about Night of the Living Rez<\/em> by Morgan Talty. <\/p> Here<\/em> is a collection of really well-crafted stories. We\u2019re following the same narrator, David, and we\u2019re non-linear. He\u2019s a kid meeting his stepdad for the first time, he\u2019s an adult standing in line at a methadone clinic, he\u2019s a teenager who doesn\u2019t want to sit around the fire while his mom and stepdad drink, he\u2019s an adult who has to help his friend who passed out in the frozen snow. His older sister comes in and out with her problems, his friends are different people when he\u2019s a kid than when he\u2019s an adult, without much explanation (though you can guess any number of possibilities). It\u2019s like if the stories in Jesus\u2019 Son<\/em> were the length of latter-day Raymond Carver, with even more of dry\/gallows sense of humor than those two writers. I really, really enjoy story collections with the same first-person narrator. This one especially felt like a novel, without being confined to the trite constraints of a typical bildungsroman. Each story is completely engrossing\u2014I read half this book during a seven-hour flight delay at an airport and didn\u2019t get mad at the plane once (shoutout to my kid for being calm that whole time, too). And because<\/em> I got to get to know David through these disparate snapshots rather than a tight narrative, it feels less and less like there\u2019s an answer<\/em> for the problems David is facing, less and less like there\u2019s a goal<\/em> to reach for, other than continued existence because you can\u2019t do otherwise\u2014something that feels real, and close, and satisfying as a reader. <\/p> Because let\u2019s be clear: this is not a portrait of something who has their shit together. This is a person who, when caught stealing his mother\u2019s cigarettes, is met with his mom supplying him cigarettes. And I didn\u2019t even think \u201cbad mom behavior!\u201d If anything, it seemed like a non-hypocritical, more peaceful way to handle that challenge. Of course, it doesn\u2019t stop David from going down the path that leads to being hooked on methadone for years. We see David crash his friends\u2019 car in a fit of stress\/grief\/frustration, and we don\u2019t see the fallout on the page\u2014but things do kinda get worse from there. This narrative arc has no upward trajectory, it has no redemption, but it does have a very real-feeling portrait of a family. And not \u201creal\u201d in the Prestige TV way of meaning \u201csuffering.\u201d Although there is suffering. Idk. I\u2019m writing in circles. Like I mentioned, I\u2019m lately not the most excited about short story collections (even though I\u2019m writing two lol), but this is a really goddamn good collection of short stories. And you can syllabus it together with Jesus\u2019 Son<\/em>. <\/p> LINKS!<\/strong><\/p> Something to listen to while you browse? Look, I\u2019m not hard to please, but I have good taste. That\u2019s true of you, too, reading this blog. You and me? All we need is a really good instrumental band doing MF DOOM covers. We\u2019ve listened to DOMi & JD BECK, we\u2019ve listened to OMA. Now let\u2019s jam New Jazz Underground. This might be my favorite one yet. <\/p>![\"Night](\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/3331496c-7ab2-4289-b280-4c74019af8d7_3024x3991.heic\")
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