netkata

This collection of short stories, published in 2005, mixes the domestic with the magical, the ordinary with the surreal, etc. Often the premise of a story was more interesting to me than the execution. There are some very original ideas here--a pregnant border-crosser decides to carry the baby until she can give birth on American soil, so she ends up being pregnant for four years; a family traps and keeps salesmen in a pen for slaughter; female friends form a dangerous malice towards the mail-order bride of their male friend. However, the writing rarely stood out to me. At times, the stories bordered on whimsy or pretension, as the quirky premise was laid out and then kind of stagnated. I wanted more than just cute ideas! Still, I imagine some of these stories will stick with me--"Nadia," about the mail-order bride was chilling, and "Miracle," about a baby that comes out black but then turns white, was pretty affecting. Overall, though, I wanted more from the writing!

2022-11-02 09:41