Pictures of Houses with Water Damage by Michael Hemmingson
My rating: 4/5 cats
the back of this book claims that Michael Hemmingson is Raymond Carver on acid. and my first thought was, “oh, great, so it is going to be boring AND overconfident, awesome.” but these stories were actually very good. so, larry mcaffery, i agree with your assessment. very astute. my snark was premature.
because these are definitely stories about mismatched individuals, poisonous relationships, drinking, and that’s all very carver, right? it has been a while, but i remember that much. however, these stories also contain ufos, legless men who just won’t leave your house, and a bunch of guns. but it still reads like realism; these aren’t wacky stories by any stretch of the imagination. they are frequently surprising stories, usually about men and women who either can’t get a relationship going, or who do get one going in an unusual way. and overall pretty sad. lots of longing. but apathetic longing, in a way. this is beyond the garment-rending passionate howling stage of longing, these characters are largely resigned to their lonely fates of phones ringing unanswered.
i read the whole thing today, so at one gulp like that, it becomes apparent when there are echoes. character names repeat, situations mirror each other, one story references another story by name. i’m not sure what this means or adds to the collection, except to suggest a certain universality of experience, and if this had been more strongly stylized i think it would have gotten that fifth star cat – with a more structured, unifying backbone, this collection of excellent stories could have been a stunner.also, there was some occasionally indulgent prose: outside, light gradually crept into the night sky like a stalker on the internet with an old modem and a slow connection….
ick.
but the dialogue is great: candid and surprising and so many things suggested, not explicated, which is refreshing.
yeah. great title, great stories.
go get it.
