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I am currently reading Zarahemla Book's Dispensation: Latter-Day Fiction, a collection of some of Mormondom's best short-fiction writers. I'm going to thweet short reviews of each story, but to save on characters, each review will have a two-letter code and a link to this post.
Two-letter codes alphabetically:
AC - Arianne Cope, "White Shell"
AH - Angela Hallstrom, "Thanksgiving"
BE - Brian Evenson, "The Care of the State"
BJ - Bruce Jorgensen, "Measures of Music"
BU - Brady Udall, "Buckeye the Elder"
CN - Coke Newell, "Trusting Lilly"
DC - Darin Cozzens, "Light of the New Day"
DS - Darrell Spencer, "Blood Work"
DT - Douglas Thayer, "Wolves"
ES - Eric Samuelsen, "Miracle"
HJ - Helen Walker Jones, "Voluptuous"
JH - Jack Harrell, "Calling and Election"
KR - Karen Rosenbaum, "Out of the Woods"
LA - Lee Allred, "Hymnal"
LD - Lisa Torcasso Downing, "Clothing Esther"
LH - Lewis Horne, "Healthy Partners"
LM - Larry Menlove, "Who Brought Forth This Christmas Demon"
LP - Laura McCune-Poplin, "Salvation"
LR - Lisa Madsen Rubilar, "Obbligato"
LV - Levi Peterson, "Brothers"
MB - Matthew James Babcock, "The Walker"
MC - Mary Clyde, "Jumping"
MY - Margaret Blair Young, "Zoo Sounds"
OC - Orson Scott Card, "Christmas at Helaman's House"
PB - Phyllis Barber, "Bread for Gunnar"
PR - Paul Rawlins, "The Garden"
ST - Stephen Tuttle, "The Weather Here"
TP - Todd Robert Petersen, "Quietly"
Two-letter codes alphabetically by author's last name:
LA - Lee Allred, "Hymnal"
MB - Matthew James Babcock, "The Walker"
PB - Phyllis Barber, "Bread for Gunnar"
OC - Orson Scott Card, "Christmas at Helaman's House"
MC - Mary Clyde, "Jumping"
AC - Arianne Cope, "White Shell"
DC - Darin Cozzens, "Light of the New Day"
LD - Lisa Torcasso Downing, "Clothing Esther"
BE - Brian Evenson, "The Care of the State"
AH - Angela Hallstrom, "Thanksgiving"
JH - Jack Harrell, "Calling and Election"
LH - Lewis Horne, "Healthy Partners"
HJ - Helen Walker Jones, "Voluptuous"
BJ - Bruce Jorgensen, "Measures of Music"
LP - Laura McCune-Poplin, "Salvation"
LM - Larry Menlove, "Who Brought Forth This Christmas Demon"
CN - Coke Newell, "Trusting Lilly"
TP - Todd Robert Petersen, "Quietly"
LV - Levi Peterson, "Brothers"
PR - Paul Rawlins, "The Garden"
KR - Karen Rosenbaum, "Out of the Woods"
LR - Lisa Madsen Rubilar, "Obbligato"
ES - Eric Samuelsen, "Miracle"
DS - Darrell Spencer, "Blood Work"
DT - Douglas Thayer, "Wolves"
ST - Stephen Tuttle, "The Weather Here"
BU - Brady Udall, "Buckeye the Elder"
MY - Margaret Blair Young, "Zoo Sounds"
Two-letter codes by order of appearance in book:
PR - Paul Rawlins, "The Garden"
LR - Lisa Madsen Rubilar, "Obbligato"
LV - Levi Peterson, "Brothers"
MC - Mary Clyde, "Jumping"
OC - Orson Scott Card, "Christmas at Helaman's House"
ST - Stephen Tuttle, "The Weather Here"
JH - Jack Harrell, "Calling and Election"
LP - Laura McCune-Poplin, "Salvation"
LH - Lewis Horne, "Healthy Partners"
HJ - Helen Walker Jones, "Voluptuous"
BJ - Bruce Jorgensen, "Measures of Music"
MB - Matthew James Babcock, "The Walker"
CN - Coke Newell, "Trusting Lilly"
MY - Margaret Blair Young, "Zoo Sounds"
LM - Larry Menlove, "Who Brought Forth This Christmas Demon"
KR - Karen Rosenbaum, "Out of the Woods"
DS - Darrell Spencer, "Blood Work"
LD - Lisa Torcasso Downing, "Clothing Esther"
ES - Eric Samuelsen, "Miracle"
PB - Phyllis Barber, "Bread for Gunnar"
BE - Brian Evenson, "The Care of the State"
AC - Arianne Cope, "White Shell"
DC - Darin Cozzens, "Light of the New Day"
LA - Lee Allred, "Hymnal"
TP - Todd Robert Petersen, "Quietly"
AH - Angela Hallstrom, "Thanksgiving"
DT - Douglas Thayer, "Wolves"
BU - Brady Udall, "Buckeye the Elder"
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ReplyDeleteOccurs to me that I should cross post the thweeted reviews. Here are the ones from today:
PR Nice to see a story set in Africa but I find that a day later I've already almost entirely forgotten it. violnce+mish http://j.mp/cQVew6
LR The first~70%'s not story and the whole thing reeks like an overcooked MFA. http://j.mp/cQVew6
MC A good story but overly deliberate. A joke wouldn't kill you. But still. A good writer and a worthy tale. #deadgirl http://j.mp/cQVew6
OC The moral's a bit hardedged but I think I would feel the same way. Would I though make the same final decision? http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteST PostApoc (or hell?) like a palatable Beckett. Innocents besieged by rain and fleas and a lack of memories. http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteJH's still one of the most realistic and intensely Mormon horror stories ever penned. More analysis yields more realism. http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteLP A nice enough story about sister missionaries but I'm left wondering why it was included. This is our absolute best? http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteLH Solid story. Mormonness incidental, but well crafted, http://j.mp/cQVew6
HJ, even after a second read, mostly proves that a bevy of literary tricks doth not a good story make if basics are weak http://j.mp/cQVew6
Enjoying your comments, Th. I'm not going to comment on all your opinions, but I might pop in from time to time and offer up my two cents.
ReplyDeleteAs far as HJ goes--I love the voice in that story, the humor, the language. Vivid, vivid, vivid. It absolutely deserves to be included on its own merits in my opinion, but I also felt it was important to have a piece by Jones given her long publishing history.
And LR? One of my favorite pieces in the whole anthology. Not the strongest in terms of storytelling, I agree with you there, but the language and imagery and the powerful yet subtle way she threads her themes throughout the piece knock me out every time I read it. And that last paragraph? Slays me.
Anthologies are great because they do allow such a range of style and tone and focus. It will be interesting to see which stories speak to different readers and why.
Carry on!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGrrr . . . I was trying not to post using my family blog link and then did accidentally, but the link is still up.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the reason I came back w/ a second comment was to ask you why you skipped LV. Just saving one of the best for last?
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ReplyDeleteObviously these aren't very nuanced (they're primarily for twitter, after all). I just forgot to crosspost Levi's (one of my favorites). Here it is now:
LV's a moving look at two estranged stepbrothers climbing Wyoming's highest peak. The best story so far. http://j.mp/cQVew6
I was thinking today as I was walking home after finishing "Voluptuous" how my twitter reviews are pretty unfair. Especially as I'm focusing more on the bad than the good lately (perhaps because I'm psyching myself up to start rejecting people? new anthology coming soon!). And also I was wondering how I would have handled the balancing tasks that were set out for you in this project. Honestly, even if I don't always agree with you, 400 pages can compensate for a lot of ills.
I agree that HJ's "Voluptuous" has its merits --- I liked it okay when I read it in Sunstone as well. She pulls off, as you say, "the voice ..., the humor, the language." Although I would add some caveats to all three.
My main complaint is how the chronology of events doesn't seem to sync and a couple other technical things. She clearly has great technical skill (I'm ashamed to admit that this, I think, is the only tale of hers I've read), but I feel like she lost track of some basics while showing off her tricks.
Anyway, ultimately this is neither here nor there.
I hope people will buy the book and argue with me. One bonus of 140chars is that lack of nuance leads to long conversations to actually figure things out.
Even though I don't love every story, I don't expect to with a multiauthor anthology. If I can't rage a little, I'm disappointed.
Overall, I'm feeling satisfied. And I have optimism that most of my favorites are yet to come.
(For instance, I've been anxious to read "Hymnal" for years. Can't wait for it to come up.)
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ReplyDeleteBJ is a well drawn snapshot of a middle-aged woman. (Corollary: aint much story here.) Reminds me of his This Afternoon http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteMB It's unsettling to read a story that celebrates all the habits I've been trying to stop using in my own work. http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteCN Lonely hobo kid and his two princesses, a dog and a Mormon girl. Lovely. I don't even mind the obvious elements. http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteMY This story deserves its stellar reputation. Deceptively simple. Powerful stuff. Mother, father, lost son, streetprcher http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteLM Two lost men and a quantity of ancient Christmas trees find half their way to redemption. Good stuff. Understated. http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteKR One of the literary instrospection stories, heavy on flashback. This one does some clever things and I quite liked it. http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteDS Mystified by story's stature. What exactly do people see in it? It's every literary story ever written, with Mormons. http://j.mp/cQVew6.
LD New trend in literary fiction: Kinetic Mourning. This is the best one. ♀ dressing dead m-i-l in temple clothes. http://j.mp/cQVew6
Still enjoying your mini-reviews.
ReplyDeleteSpencer's story grows richer for me w/ each reading. Definitely a literary story, concerned with language (some may say above all else, although I disagree) but a great example of the genre. Not for everyone, but none of these stories are.
Love Lisa's story too. And Rosenbaum's is another that grows richer and more emotionally textured each time I return to it. And yes, Margaret's story is essential to this anthology.
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ReplyDeleteES LDS lady forced to be good by a series of miracles against her better sense Fnl rvlation of her char lovelyhonesttwist http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeletePB Striking polygamy story as a woman has an encounter with an angelic madman shortly before her husband marries a girl. http://j.mp/cQVew6
BE A successful conversational tone and an honest feeling look at devestating mental illness. Not what I'd expected. http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteDC This one though without an ending becomes my fave of his A measured look at the damage of love and the passage of time http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteAC A small number of startling insights cannot compensate for pages of gross artifice. IndPlaceProg needs better fiction http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteLA More a celebration of language than science fiction, a metaphor that asks more questions than offers answers. http://j.mp/cQVew6
TP One of the most gratifying looks at nonUS Mormons to date. African man dedicates grave in dangerous land. http://j.mp/cQVew6
AH Finding a family at a moment of crisis brings more to the surface than expected. (Funny:books' only typo in ed's tale) http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteDT No one can write a Doug Thayer story like Doug Thayer can write a Doug Thayer story. This one is both violenter&better http://j.mp/cQVew6
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ReplyDeleteBU Great tale of new Mormon in Baptist country. New girl friend, surrogate little brother, just doin' the best he can. http://j.mp/cQVew6
(coincidentally, i just received my new BU novel in the mail not three minutes after finishing this story)
very nice post and i like this ^___^
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