Quite recently I was thinking of authors who are well known for both their novels and their short stories that I see has better at the latter rather than the former. Names like Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell and Joe R. Lansdale came to mind: authors whose work in the short form greatly outweighs their longer books (I found this more true with horror authors than literary ones). I can safely add author Kevin Wilson to that lost after reading his newest short story collection Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine. I have read three of his four books, the other two being his novels The Family Fang, which, despite its awful title I recall giving a glowing review of and Perfect Little World, which was cute but disposable and easily lost in the shuffle of similar themed books but both, I must say haven’t aged well and come off as bland and very forgettable. There is nothing forgettable about this collection, which brings to mind the two collections of author Tom Perrotta, who excavated similar material in the short form. These incredible stories are filled with familiar people with familiar desires, problems and disappointments, but somehow, Wilson, always willing to give even the sorriest character a sense of dignity and hope, pushes these stories in the strangest, darkest yet charming directions that unload the characters pathos in surprising and heartbreaking ways. I will talk about a few of the stories here, but all of them are good and even the few that in retrospect rest in the shadow of the really good stories still impress me. One of them, “Scroll Through the Weapons,” is about a shaky couple that is forced to watch over the feral nieces and nephews of the woman. Narrated by the man, it is charming and engaging but has little substance. It is a good example of what some might not like about Wilson, which is the plausibility of the situations he puts his characters in. This, along with other plot points that take center stage, like an ice cube fight in “No Joke, This is Going to be Painful” and a spontaneous home video horror film in “The Horror We Made” may be hard to swallow for some, but Wilson’s skill and empathy make them work. The first real standout is the story simply titled “A Signal to the Faithful” about a young altar boy who is suffering fainting spells who’s given the opportunity to travel with his parish priest to help in officiating the priest’s aunt’s funeral. It would have been easy (and lazy) to take an obvious jab at a timely subject, but the story is more complex and the priest ends up being the story's most tragic figure. The same kind of subversion can be found in the title story, where a failed rock musician moves back in with his widowed mom, with an ending brave enough to turn one character's success into the other character's doom. But the best story here is “Wildfire Johnny” about young boy who finds a razor that allows him to travel one day in the past if he slits his own throat. It is a silly device used brilliantly to talk about such topics as race relations and pitiful white guilt. It is damn near perfect. It is a collection like this that reinforces my love for the short form, and I hope it does the same for you.
Rating: 5/5
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