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Patty
Rating:
Review
I knew I was in trouble on the first page, a story called "Puberty," which is about a 4'11" teenager who wishes for the "magical process of physiological, hormonally induced changes to both the body and the mind, and after these changes there is a kind of freedom waiting for him, a vista of unbounded green pastures defined by "all-around faster running and a larger penis". Page Two was worse when Brandon studied "an artist's sketch of the Adult Male smiling, standing in the nude, huge peach dick dangling between his legs..." At that point I asked my husband to look at the collection of ten short stories within the hallowed halls of Trouble to evaluate whether I have crossed over the edge of prudishness. It wasn't quite his cup of tea either, but admitted junior high school boys would probably love it. As a rather senior adult who never had brothers, didn't have boy babies, and haven't experienced the challenges of boys and half hour showers, I quickly decided this is not a book for me.
Best Line:
Not every book has a magical one.
Kim
Rating:
Review
Singer/songwriter Lindsay Buckingham says there are two kinds of trouble in this world: living and dying. Oh how profound and surprising accurate, especially as it relates to this collection of short stories. In "Puberty", narration switches between teenager Brandon, and his dad, Ralph, and shows two people living conflicted and somewhat selfish lives. "Trouble and The Shadowy Deathblow" introduces Jim Funkle, an out-of-work chemist who learns an odd way to commit murder, and "Black Earth, Early Winter Morning" is tragic all the way around. "The Future, The Future, The Future" and "So Long, Anyway" were my favorites, but like all of the stories in this collection, they go along in a seemingly normal fashion and then some kind of weirdness is thrown in for reasons I cannot understand. And though it's usually slight, except in "Crow Moon", "The Train" and "The Whales" which were truly out there, the stories suffer! I did like Mr. Somerville's style of writing and his imagination, and would probably read more from him in the future, though tentatively.
Best Line:
"They say that introverts are better than extroverts because their self-esteems aren't dependent on other people."
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