Review: Short Stories from Martin Crosbie
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 22, 2013
Where Martin Crosbie found his voice is a mystery. His ability to create stories (here very brief ones) that explore the psyche of his chosen stand-in trope in such a way that within a few sentences you are so aware of the character's life and feelings that he seems to be sitting beside you, in conversation with only you. In `Blind Men Don't Cry' we travel the street with a man in his car on his way to meet his now twenty something daughter from an estranged marriage and through fleeting moments of experiences we know how fearful he is of what the world may be dong to his daughter while at the same time realizing that his repartee with her may have been based on lies. But contact finally made breaks a barrier he dares not disguise.In `Any Night But Friday' we learn about an eight year old's seemingly reprobate uncle (in this family's eye) who was warmth and special to the boy. Leo, the uncle, apparently drank heavily, transforming his entire paycheck to swallowed booze until his job changed and he was without his Friday paycheck to drink away. The mother (Leo is her brother) would slip him money, the father fell and broke his leg not once but twice - second time being a slip in Leo's urine.  Distance occurs until a Christmas when Leo comes with a gift for our eight year old and there is a transformation that puts a new light on this sad little story of a boy's view on the only kind person he knows.The stories here all contain situations that make us look more deeply into our lives, our motivations, our needs.  Included in this collection (the above mention short stories are joined with `Wendy Isn't Coming Home', `The Absence of Guilt' and `Afternoons with Angela') are the first chapters from two of Crosbie's splendid books - MY TEMPORARY LIFE and MY NAME IS HARDLY - and for those reading Crosbie in these abbreviated moments, the just imagine feeling such as these expanded and go read his full length books.  He is a very very fine writer. Grady Harp, April 13