The Circles I Move In: Short Stories - Hardcover

Lefer, Diane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0944072410 ISBN 13: 9780944072417

Publisher: Zoland Books, 1994

Synopsis

These sharp-edged, uncompromising, often comic stories take on the daunting complexities of our much afflicted and logic-resistant world. From the multiracial streets of New York City to Mexican villages caught up in social change, here are people of our times in pursuit of human connection. Lefer's unusual range of characters includes a pornographer who wishes to comfort his disillusioned feminist wife; a veteran of the Mexican Revolution who watches a young teacher and her rival - a leftist guerrilla - compete to push their Mixe Indian village into modernity; and a young boy at a family gathering who listens to his relatives reminisce about popular television commercials. Lefer's contemporary characters blunder toward a vision, breaking them free from the limitations of imperfect societies and the too tight borders of their own lives.

About this title

About the Author

Diane Lefer teaches in the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College and lives in New York City.

From Kirkus Reviews

One humdrum tale follows another, lulling readers into a somnolent state induced by a writer who's been published in Redbook and Playgirl. The stories can be loosely grouped in two categories: those about minority characters, primarily blacks and Latinos; and those populated by tacky, stupid, white female secretaries. There is some overlap in the title story, which shows one of the secretaries dating a black man who works in the copy center of her building. Like many of its companions in this volume, the tale begins with a cute moment of humor (a jab at Betty Ford alums), then reveals its superficiality as Lefer lapses into overstatement, depicting through a tedious monologue the lame life of a not-so-bright office worker. Readers may hope that at least the Latino characters in stories like ``Huevos,'' ``La Chata,'' ``Vegetable Soup,'' and ``Little Virgins'' will have some soul, but even these portraits are pallid. ``Vegetable Soup'' combines a character study and commentary on political upheaval in an amateur blend whose ingredients refuse to unite amicably. Redbook's pick, ``Huevos,'' is one of the most interesting of the bunch: the saga of a timid Mexican girl who remains in her humble station while the world keeps turning. However, it relies upon straight reportage of action and thought, to the detriment of nuance. ``The Night Life'' and ``Man, Wife, and Deity'' introduce sex and pornography to the collection with their respective portraits of a night-clubbing crotch-grabber and a middle-aged pornographer married to a humanistic city worker. Even the slightly seamy becomes dull and rings false in these two tales. But the most serious problem, which pervades the collection without exception, is that of pacing. Lefer's habit of summarizing situations rather than elaborating on them reduces the action to a Cliff Note and forces characters into their lowest common denominators. Attention-deficit disorder plagues these shallow forgettables. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Zoland Books
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0944072410
• ISBN 13: 9780944072417
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 178