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Through stories of childhood, working years, retirement, and even death this collection is “the journey that is you”—an everyman journey. It spans the emotions of any age, from youthful mischief and crushes to griefs that accompany on-call duty as an anesthesiologist or a farmer and a long-lasting love. A widely appealing variety is also shown in the book’s genres, and each of the three sections of stories begins with a prose poem.
While many of the stories share commonalities, such as an Arizona setting and a writer’s and researcher’s outlook (taking notes, either by drawing or writing, is a recurring theme), every character is developed with a unique style. For example, “Spies,” a story about preteens enacting a plan of revenge that ends up taking revenge on them, is written with the feverish, clipped sentences of a kid on a mission. In “Playing Doctor,” a medical student inhibits his attraction for the classmate on whom he practices performing a breast exam. While the student’s demeanor is clinical and professional, the text betrays his heart. The narrator’s anatomical descriptions of his patient befit a body to behold and adore rather than assess. A man caught running a greyhound track in “Three Strides to Thirty” explains his tale to the track’s authority. His Iowa drawl characterizes his determination to fulfill his dead wife’s last wishes.
In allowing each protagonist his own voice, the author secures his own deft craftsmanship. Moreover, every story earns its conclusion. These tales are not filled with glib morals nor happy endings but hard-fought lessons that stick because they follow as consequences of longing and fidelity, among other actions. They are a privilege to read and share with others, resonating, like memories, that “follow you wherever you go.”
RECOMMENDED by the US Review