Harcourt, Inc. -- ©1993 -- tpbOrlando, FL -- 208pp
ISBN: 0-7394-5531-1
A collection of four short stories.
Author's Note
"The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios"
"The Time I Heard the Private Donald J. Rankin String Concerto with One Discordant Violin, by the American Composer John Morton"
"Manners of Dying"
"The Vita Aeterna Mirror Company: Mirrors to Last till Kingdom Come"
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I wasn't particularly crazy about Life of Pi, but I really enjoyed the works in this book. Each was very different from any of the others, and very different from the novel I'd read.
"...Helsinki..." might be my least favorite of these four offerings, though I enjoyed the writing "game" that the main characters were engaged in.
"...String Concerto..." was the most "typical" piece of fiction, but it struck me as the sort of work that I might write myself. I really liked everything about it.
"Manners of Dying" was an interesting work and I didn't quite appreciate it. It lacked purpose other than to reflect on the manners of dying (hence title), but the way it reflected was more than confusing. Were we to choose? Was the warden trying to choose? Are they stock letters? Just didn't click. However, the writing of each manner had me reading carefully.
"...Mirror..." started off losing me and my attention -- as it was supposed to! I got caught off guard, just as the main character did.
A fun collection. Worth reading.
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