Lovers of fiction will enjoy plunging headfirst into an offbeat collection of thought-provoking short stories. This tapestry of vignettes by Monica McFawn, which won the Flannery O'Connor Award for short fiction, is an alluring debut: the 11 stories are simultaneously quirky and achingly resonant.
"Out of the Mouths of Babes" packs a creepy, revelatory wallop, as a wise-beyond-his years kid manages to solve various crises via telephone for his whiskey-swilling, debt-ridden babysitter. The skillful role swap of child and adult is a reminder that children's cleverness cannot be underestimated, and the ending is equal parts startling and satisfying. In "Key Phrases," a manager struggles with his inability to fire Mol, his terrible employee who skips work and stockpiles mounds of dead flowers in her office. Another memorable story, "Line of Questioning," introduces a lonely poetry professor delighted by the attention he gets from local police when he's suspected of murdering a former student. "The Chautauqua Sessions" finds a once-great songwriter's life upended by the invasion of his drug addict son.
McFawn stitches these pieces together with the thread of human failing and our universal desire for connection. Her realistic characters face strange dilemmas (an innocent game of Scrabble doesn't usually end with a man unjustly accused of a crime), and this intriguing collection leads readers to strange places in which they'll want to linger. Occasionally, McFawn leaves the reader with more questions than answers, and there's much here to consider after the last page is turned. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend