August 5 - "In Reference to Your Recent Communications"

“In Reference to Your Recent Communications”
by Tessa Brown
New Sudden Fiction (2007)

* * * * * (Excellent) Humor

Jessica responds, in detail, to the couple of messages Randolph left on her answering machine breaking up with her.

What can I say? I am a sucker for footnotes. I really enjoyed how Brown took the couple of phone messages left for Jessica and had her breaking down each communication into its individual components, adding her thoughts and beliefs – as accurate or obsessive – to the message, all in an attempt to convince Randolph of the error of his ways. In fact, I bounced back and forth in my sympathy, at once for Jessica and her broken heart, and then for Randolph, because at times it appears that Jessica might be a tad too committed to her part in this relationship. All told, this story was quite hilarious and it’s been a rare thing to come across humor in these stories I’ve read so far this year.

[This story was read on August 5. The review was not posted until later due to laziness on my part.]

February 24 - "Brevity"

“Brevity”
by Deb Olin Unferth
Minor Robberies (2007)

* * (Okay) Humor

Brevity in writing, according to topic (and Deb Olin Unferth).

I honestly don’t know if this counts as a story; it is much more of a list. I suppose you could argue that some of the topics in themselves, and the simple sentences used to expound upon them, could constitute a story. It does work as a bridge between the last story and the next. And there is humor here. An example of a brief Resolution (story ending): “Oh who cares what will become of them? They will die, that is all.”

It’s a type of humor I appreciate.

Let’s give it a try: Review – I read. I wrote that I liked, or did not.

January 15 - "Cat 'N' Mouse"

“Cat ‘N’ Mouse”
by Steven Millhauser
Dangerous Laughter (2008)

* * * (Good) Humor

The mouse and cat are forever trapped in an endless cycle of schemes and violence and mayhem. In the moments between exploding sticks of red dynamite and carefully concocted traps, both mouse and cat ponder a life without the conflicting company of each other’s presence.

This literary cartoon acts as both introduction to a story collection, and my introduction to author Steven Millhauser (Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the short story, “Eisenheim the Illusionist,” which was the basis for the movie, The Illusionist). This story is a lot like the shorts before the Pixar movies, not some throwaway piece of entertainment meant to run in those five minutes as the tardy patrons finally find their seats in the darkening theater. There’s action, laughs, and enjoyment in this setup to the main event. While there is only a thin line of story holding this tale together, it is structured more as flashes of insight than normal narrative. And for its subject matter – essentially a mash-up of the best of Tom and Jerry cartoons – the format succeeds. There is some nice prose displayed, full of entertaining sentences and vivid imagery. At just a bit too long, the story does end in the only way this eternal struggle could end. I’m now more curious where this collection of stories will lead me.