House of Prayer No. 2 by Mark Richard

There's just not enough good I can say about this book. It's everything I wanted it to be. Richard tells some horrific stories, having his bones nailed together and spending summers in a body cast, and incredible stories. Most exciting for fans, he tells how he came up with the idea that would become the first line of his excellent short story "Strays" (I didn't find it online, but check it out in this collection. It is probably my favorite all-time short story).

The book is full of gorgeous moments, and there are too many good things to say about it. So instead of writing a full-on, comprehensive review, I'm just going to pretend that Mr. Richard honored me by asking me to write one of those short quotes for the back cover.


"There's nothing number 2 about it. Pure winner."


"Reading Mark Richard...if he was telling you these stories out loud, you would reach across and touch his hand just to see if he was real."


"Dazzling. Just dazzling. If this book were an X-Man, it would be Dazzler. Or Wolverine."

Orientation: Stories by Daniel Orozco

Short stories can be a tough sell. Strangely, they feel harder to write, and they give you a good deal of variety, but most people seem less interested in short stories than longform works.

A lot of claims have to do with the fact that you're less invested in the story before it ends, which I get. But I would pose the theory that part of the problem with short story collections is that they tend to be a little uneven. Novels are equally so, but because they don't delineate sections as heavily it's a little less noticeable.

That unevenness is what kept this book from snagging a few more stars.

There were some truly excellent stories, such as "The Bridge" and "Temporary Stories." But others were not as strong. "Somozas Dream" just didn't hit the right chord for me, which was too bad because it's about twice as long as the rest of the stories. All the other stories seemed to center around a character who acted as a cog in the machine, something that rang very true in the writing. But this story, the story of a South American dictator in exile, a man who turns the gears, didn't offer me a whole lot. It didn't hit those great short story notes, the small details that are somehow unexpected and yet totally familiar.

I'd recommend reading this out of order, starting with "The Bridge" and "Temporary Stories." If you're in love with those, "Officers Weep" and the title story are the next best, heartfelt and playful in their form.

Legend of a Suicide by David Vann

Brutally sad, honest, and well-written. You feel the violence under the surface of every word, and when it breaches it still surprises the reader and leaves you devastated.

The one downside is that the first story, a novella-length piece, is the real strength of the book and comes up top. Afterwards, it's hard to feel like there's much reason to continue on through the other couple of stories. It's worth the effort, but it's a little like seeing Quiet Riot in concert and hearing Cu...moreBrutally sad, honest, and well-written. You feel the violence under the surface of every word, and when it breaches it still surprises the reader and leaves you devastated.

The one downside is that the first story, a novella-length piece, is the real strength of the book and comes up top. Afterwards, it's hard to feel like there's much reason to continue on through the other couple of stories. It's worth the effort, but it's a little like seeing Quiet Riot in concert and hearing Cum on Feel the Noize very first thing. You'll still enjoy the night, but the anticipation of the best being yet to come has something to it.

To use an overused term, the book is very Haunting in that you'll find yourself thinking about it days later. Between this and the violence it acts a lot like a Cormac McCarthy book, which is very high praise as far as I'm concerned.