Glossolalia: New & Selected Stories
All 17 stories in this collection were originally published in literary journals; in addition, 2 appeared in the Best American Short Stories series and 2 in thematic collections. Jauss is a writer with great strengths, including his adept use of voice, his descriptions of place that powerfully impact plot, and his understanding of human character. Many of these narratives bring to mind aspects of southern writing because of their grotesque characters, emotional and/or physical violence, and desperate endings. In “Misery,” which is subtitled “After Chekhov,” a short, deformed man is forced, during the course of an evening’s entertainment,  to recognize home truths about how his employer thinks of him. “Glossolalia,” a boy’s memory of his father’s psychotic break, is recounted by the son from the perspective of his own fatherhood. “Shards,” beginning in the narrator’s teen years, demonstrates the protagonist’s increasing detachment from other people, guided by recollections of his father’s voice. Libraries with inclusive short fiction collections or strong demand for the genre will want to add this volume. --Ellen Loughran