You'd think with how impatient we all are, short stories would be more successful. Why I had only learned of this collection by discovering it in a store, is a surprise to me. Well, I guess with a cover like this, you'd have to be the least curious person on the planet to not pick it up and give it a spin. What repels me from short stories is the lack of epic proportion, I've decided. As readers, we gravitate toward the book that offers the largest story with the biggest bang and the most satisfying pay-off that can be absorbed in the quickest amount of time. Short stories don't promise much of any of those--or so my bratty, coddled perspective had thought. I bought this for the cover, but trust me, the content underneath is just as compelling; each story a jolt to the mind and heart.
Within the first story, McCracken propels you through multiple narratives that graze and miss each other like a loose knot. With expert subtlety, she amps the tension and the terror, putting us in a position that we don't want to be in, but have no choice but to continue reading regardless. The story's end relieves the tension, but not without feeling like you've just pulled your finger from a live outlet.
McCracken gives us both closure, and opportunities to draw our own understandings. She sets us up for a read that is simultaneously challenging and just plain fun. Not for a moment did I feel uninterested in the myriad characters and their ruthless circumstances. Her insight into the human mind shifts its expertise from parent, to child, to sibling, to rival. Each story feels more intimate and devastating than the last--a constant, pleasurable pull between one extreme and the other. She does exactly what any author should do, which is to make us fear and love the world unconditionally.
