The Uncollected Short Stories by Allan Garganus

Uncharacteristically, I’ve been reading some Southern fiction lately, though of a more modern and more thrilleresque variety. The thing is, though, as much as I love to read internationally and yes, the American South is very much its own country, it isn’t a favorite destination of mine, far from it. More often than not the southern charm fails to charm and appeal fails to appeal. Maybe I’ve been venturing too far South…because this one stays north, well North Carolina north anyway and it seems that finally, finally I can understand what it’s all about, the appeal, the charm, the works.
Or maybe Gurganus is just that good of an author. Franky, that’s probably it. And to think it’s my first time reading him, though once upon a time I did watch a movie adaptation of his most famous novel, Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland, yeah, it rings a distant bell.
Anyway, I’m not quite sure what attracted me to this book. I believe it might have been the cover, something about that portrait just draws you in. Plus it promised a classic and I wanted to mix up my reading variety. And sure enough, this is a classic. I don’t use that word lightly or often. In fact, usually I reserve it for the deserving few books and it seldom has to do with the age of the works or conventional popularity. For me it’s all about quality and a certain timeless element…both of which are perfectly exemplified in this book.
The ten stories in this collection are like a masterclass on crafting short fiction. Both the writing and the plotting, the way they tell a complete story with well developed characters and emotionally charged situations…it’s dangerously close to perfection. Most of these are set in a small North Carolina town, same as the novel that got turned into the movie I watched, so you might expect your typical small town fare, but Gurganus elevates it with a certain elan and grace and infuses it with so much kindness and compassion, you actually kind of get the Southern thing, you really do.
And the latter is done without ever resorting to cheap emotional manipulations, cheese, etc.
It’s remarkable, really, what great writing can accomplish. These stories have varied premises from something as ordinary as a walking tour of the main town to something as exotic as a peculiarly Floridian sideshow attraction and yet every one is a world of its own and plays as vivid and dimensional as your imagination would permit. Fetch is a fine example of it, such a seemingly simple story and yet it’s positively magnetic in its dynamism, you can’t put it down. It’s all just great, really, really great writing.
For some weird reason normally short stories don’t stick to my memory bank walls, usually ‘ll read a collection or an anthology and they all tend to clump together or get forgotten, but this one was so good, so original, so well done, that all the mental entries got arranged properly and satisfactory. Memorable. Excellent. Classic. Recommended.