Resurrectionists (Iowa Short Fiction Award) - Hardcover

Working, Russell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0877451648 ISBN 13: 9780877451648

Publisher: University Of Iowa Press, 1987

Synopsis

Eight stories deal with a teenager practicing martial arts, a photojournalist's encounter with zombiism, a paper mill worker, and a hospital patient on New Year's Day

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Reviews

At 26, Working is the youngest winner of the Iowa School of Letters Award for Short Fiction. This collection of eight stories, although uneven, proves that he is a writer to watch. His style is reminiscent of the early Paul Bowles, with the same muscular use of language, the same ability to create a mood fraught with tension but without the sexual imageryWorking is restrained in this respect. Although some of his stories lack focus, seeming to wander off and vanish without resolution, two tales are standouts. In the title story, Dale Rossin, a photojournalist, visits Haiti as a tribute to his dead wife; she spent two years there and was profoundly affected by the experience. As he tries to come to terms with his grief, Rossin is struck by the beauty, horror and strangeness of an alien culture. In "The Monkey," the narrator and his two brothers, one of whom is an epileptic, move with their parents to the edge of the Mojave Desert. The three boys befriend a neighbor's pet monkey, whose death leaves them uncomprehending and dismayed.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

O'Brien's characters hunt seals, move pianos, protect wildlife, and operate machinery with fierce hope and wilfulness, each seeking "eminence" over his "domain." Though natural enmities are strong, whether they involve two climbers performing a mountain rescue or neighbors separated by a wire fence, the natural worlde.g., the drama of the nymph caddis fly rising to the surface of a trout stream or a pair of geese resting on their northern flightis rendered with great imaginative sensitivity. Working also shocks with sharp description. "Resurrection" is his theme: a grand mal survivor comes to terms with the night of his seizure while an ex-cop is not so accepting of his sister's return to her abusive husband. At his best, Working is serious, as when a photojournalist in Haiti encounters belief in zombiism. At his worst, he is silly, as in a story of a giant snake in a toilet. O'Brien's title story in which a junkyard owner refuses to sell similarly strives for pathos and humor and then falls short, but both collectionsIowa Short Fiction Award winnerscan be recommended, and admired, for their fine precision. Peter Bricklebank, English Dept., City Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Of Iowa Press
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0877451648
• ISBN 13: 9780877451648
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 182