Nothing Could Be Further from the Truth by Christopher Evans

If nothing in these stories could be further from truth, then this author is a terrific liar. After all, all the best storytellers are.
The stories in this absolute delight of a collection are definitely of a slice of life variety, but sometimes that life takes turn for the strange. Not so far as to venture into the magical realism territory, just kind of out there. Most of the time, it doesn’t even get that far and stays strictly within the bounds of possible, but-like the best of fiction does-it finds beauty in the ordinary, reasons in the chaos and solace in the sadness.
Never read the author before, he’s Canadian, a lot of stories are based there, but it’s never all that location specific in a way that a location would define the narrative. Not like the story that takes place in an unnamed though thinly veiled Latin American country and features an exiled author, who comes back only to find himself trapped by the new regime, and three visits by his greatest fan.
The pear on the cover refers to one of the stories permanently featuring pears, lots of them. An excellent story about nine siblings raising themselves, having been failed by their parents, essentially what Shameless ought to have been, had it not chosen to be stupid and ride out on cheap jokes.
The titles of short stories in collections never stick with me, but in this case, it doesn’t even matter so much, because there’s no need to play favorites – there were simply too many. Every so often you read a book and the writing just really clicks with you, really speaks to you, and this was definitely one of those reading experiences for me. I just loved the way the author sees the world, the way he writes the world. It’s original, clever, just the right kind of strange. There’s so much soul in these pages, so much emotionally intelligent observation, so much compassion (the proper kind, not the lachrymose sentimental variety). I absolutely loved this book, loved the time I spent with it. A quiet treasure for the weary spirit. Recommended.. Thanks Netgalley.