Review: Readers need to decide how they want to understand this story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 13, 2011
Scribner, a great short story writer, frequently takes well-known plots and gives them an unusual twist that makes them almost unrecognizable and turns them into an unusual, interesting, sometimes haunting tale. This story draws in large part from fantasies about the ability to wish for something, as in the Aladdin and his lamp legend, and the many tales about people who are able to persuade other to see what they want them to see.In this Scribner story, Saul is a bouncer who could have gone to medical school and become a physician, but was kicked out of school because of a brawl. He works now at a casino that has unusual clients and service personnel. One is Marcus Deft, a lawyer who was quite successful until his family was murdered, when he became very depressed. Milah is a waitress who has a bad temperament, and she is unable to have a baby. There is also an Indian bar tender who used to have dreams of his ancestors speaking to him. Saul and these three people are affected by Mookie who tells Saul that he has a magic potion called Fantos that can bring back what a person lost. Each of the four take or are given the potion and it affects each differently. Readers will wonder whether what happens to each of them is good or bad. And there is a surprise ending that leaves readers the option how they want to understand the story.