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Short story collections often
revolve around a central theme. Too often this central theme is so
overtly omnipresent that it dulls engagement and eradicates surprise.
Fortunately that is not the case with the stories in Mr. Langford’s
collection. Readers of this compilation are in for laughs, sighs,
tears, trauma, feelings of envy, regret, and more, all in bite-size
chucks which are deliciously digestible.
Twenty stories tickle both your funny bone and your consciousness.
You’re chuckling one moment and being chilled the next. Here are just
some of the characters and situations. A sophisticated woman
unwittingly comes face to face with a creepy caller. A young man has a
strange conversation with a Holocaust survivor. Or does he? A dog lover
takes taxidermy to another level. A woman helplessly watches a murder
with a shocking ending. An old woman gets revenge by turning into a
parrot. A man loses himself as he loses his job. A liar’s falsehoods
prove particularly foolish. A woman loses a husband but gains a great
pair of shoes. A couple finds it virtually impossible to recover from
the wrenching death of their children. A man hurdles his furniture once
too often. Cats exact revenge as only cats can.
Langford is a storyteller at the top of his game. You’re often hooked
from the very first sentence. He writes with wit, charm, and a piercing
honesty about the absurdity of the human condition. While you’re
tempted to pause and admire his use of irony in one yarn, you’re
compelled to rush headlong into the next. But take your time. Each of
the tales in this storyteller’s restaurant are well worth lingering
over.
RECOMMENDED by The US Review