The Color Master: Stories
Bender’s first short story collection since Willful Creatures (2006) once again opens the door to surreal otherworlds where master seamstresses mend broken tigers and an ugly woman weds an ogre only to have her heart broken when he’s tricked into eating their six children. Bender ventures into the real world as well, exploring the psyche of a woman who becomes obsessed with role-playing with her husband—to the eventual detriment of her marriage—in “The Red Ribbon.” In “The Fake Nazi,” a man’s guilt over his brother’s misfortunes and the part he feels he has in them leads him to insist that he committed atrocious acts during WWII. “On a Saturday Afternoon” finds a young woman living out a sexual fantasy that leaves her feeling unfulfilled afterward. A solitary college student befriends a lonely older man and discovers a ring she threw away in his possession in “Bad Return.” Bender has an extraordinary gift for drawing readers into her magical, mesmerizing tales, and those looking to lose themselves in fiction will not be disappointed. --Kristine Huntley