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.

Reviews

All but one of the 12 stories in this debut collection have appeared previously, most in literary magazines such as Boulevard and Virginia Quarterly Review . With settings that range from upscale apartments and seamy bars in New York to muddy shanties and dusty villages in Mexico, and with narrators as diverse as an old man who fought for Zapata and the girlfriend of a Mob chauffeur, the stories are consistent in their sociopolitical insights and their uncompromising emotional power. The newcomer is "What Duck?" a delightful short-short about a fatherless only child among family members who share memories of radio and TV jingles: "Each object was capable of bringing back a classic slogan and a few bars of song. Everything was hot with meaning." Elsewhere, Lefer's focus on tough yet powerless women connects themes as seemingly varied as the intellectual awakening power of Marxism ("Little Virgins") and the intentional cruelty of parents who withhold support from their needy children ("The Circles I Move In"). Only "Huggers" grates, with its unpalatable--and overloaded--cast of characters and shifting points of view. Overall, these stories, which include two PEN Syndicated Fiction Prize winners, add up to a cohesive unit of vivid sensual imagery and visceral impact.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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.

In eight of the 12 stories in Lefer's first collection, her North Americans are illusioned, delusive, or disillusioned. Mostly narcissists unable to communicate with those close to them, they float from circle to circle without real, meaningful interaction. As true as the stories ring and as evocative as the writing may be, many readers may find the characters soulless and unappetizing, especially since the author herself seems contemptuous of them. Thus, the narrator of the title story, a young, underachieving secretary dating a married photocopier in the same office, claims that "What I like best about baseball are the player trades." In "Wonderful Baby," a story so gruesome it could be true, a group of women stand around a baby boy, burning him with lit cigarette ends, as an abused girl dances nearby. In contrast, the four stories set in Mexico demonstrate profound interest in the complexity of the characters' individual lives and the civilization in which they live, and, when Lefer brings together the two nationalities in "Little Virgins," she creates intriguing and subtle fiction. For general collections.
Harold Augenbraum, Mercantile Lib., New York
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In Lefer's comic stories, her characters blunder around, trying to break through the too-tight borders of their own lives. In "Sophisticated Ladies," a young woman roams the multiracial streets of Manhattan, longing for summer when the windows are open and the stoop is alive with six-packs and radios. She could slow-dance on roller blades and pretend to converse with Linda Ronstadt--but she wonders if this is enough to live for. Friendship is the theme in "Huggers," where black women support each other after rapes and muggings, staying vigil through the long, fitful nights. In Mexico, "La Chata" is a young Indian girl who speaks Zabotec but curses in Spanish. "My daughter knows how to work," her father says. "My son only knows how to get married." However these characters may differ, they are collectively gutsy, stylish, and tough and often bigger than life. Theresa Ducato

Edition details

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