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Fiction. Literature. Short Stories. HTML: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions comes a stunning collection about those moments when everything changesâ??for the better, for the worse, for the outrageousâ??as a diverse cast of characters bounces from Italy to Idaho, questioning their roles in life and finding inspiration in the unlikeliest places. We all live like we're famous now, curating our social media presences, performing our identities, withholding those parts of ourselves we don't want others to see. In this riveting collection of stories from acclaimed author Jess Walter, a teenage girl tries to live up to the image of her beautiful, missing mother. An elderly couple confronts the fiction writer eavesdropping on their conversation. A son must repeatedly come out to his senile father while looking for a place to care for the old man. A famous actor in recovery has a one-night stand with the world's most surprising film critic. And in the romantic title story, a shy twenty-one-year-old studying Latin in Rome during "the year of my reinvention" finds himself face-to-face with the Italian actress of his adolescent dreams. Funny, poignant, and redemptive, this collection of short fiction offers a dazzling range of voices, backdrops, and situations. With his signature wit and bighearted approach to the darkest parts of humanity, Walter tackles the modern condition with a timeless touch, once again "solidifying his place in the contemporary canon as one of our most gifted builders of fictional worlds" (Esquire)… (more)
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The lengthy title story starts off a bit weak, but develops, even as its protagonist develops, into a lovely tale of growth and fellow-feeling. Other stories that I particularly enjoyed include, “Famous Actor,” “Mr. Voice,” and “Town & Country.” But there are no weak stories here. As with his novels, Jess Walter is an accomplished writer, sometimes surprisingly so.
It’s easy to recommend this collection.
His stories also provide a poignant and painful illustration of the stages of life. I particularly liked his ability to characterize teenage angst and the unique concerns of aging citizens in communities and families that don’t always recognize individual needs. Some of the themes that I will remember are
-Finding protection from unexpected and chance meetings
-Magnificent desolation
-Reinvention of self
-Limited expectations from certain people
-Stereotyping
-Generational shifts
-Universal humanity