"A Blind Corner: Stories," by Caitlin Macy

The book-cover flap of “A Blind Corner: Stories” (Little, Brown, 2022), by Caitlin Macy, states that “this collection reclaims the absurdities and paradoxes of real life from the American fantasy of ‘niceness.’” Yes, it does. Words that I jotted down while reading this book included “biting,” “mordant,” and “caustic.” I also noted that I frequently winced while reading the book. Yes, I also wrote “observant.” And I noticed the collection’s interest in, and apt comments on, social class, a topic in which I am very interested; I also noted and appreciated Macy’s treatment of social class in two of her earlier books, both novels: “Spoiled,” which I posted about here on 4/26/18, and “Mrs.,” which I wrote about here on 7/2/18. But the stories in “A Blind Corner” lean too heavily on the absurdities, the mordant, the caustic, for my taste. Does this mean I want my fiction to be smooth, and not to be challenging? No, not at all. But my ongoing feeling throughout the current book was not, as the book-cover flap also claims, that “Macy foregoes easy moralization in favor of uncomfortable truths that reveal the complexity of what it means to be human.” Rather it appeared to me that she sometimes takes the easy way out, using her stories to negate, to shock. To my eyes, there was something not quite real about some of the situations portrayed. This is not to say that Macy is not a compelling writer – she is. And I admit that my reaction to this book could very well be a matter of taste, or even of my own mood during these difficult times. I did admire some of the stories, as I did the two earlier books mentioned above. But I was not sorry to reach the end of “A Blind Corner.”

Two Family Sagas: "Family Trust," by Kathy Wang, and "Marrying the Ketchups," by Jennifer Close

Family sagas! Novels that are well-written and full of engaging characters, family history, drama, love, not-so-much love, complicated situations, changing relationships – all the good stuff! As readers of this blog know, these are among my favorite types of novels. I have just read two recent examples of this category: “Family Trust” (William Morrow, 2018), by Kathy Wang, and “Marrying the Ketchups” (Knopf, 2022), by Jennifer Close. The first is about a Chinese American family living in the San Francisco Bay Area, and centers around various family members concerned about who will inherit money from the dying family patriarch. The second is about an Irish-American family living in or near Chicago, whose lives are focused on the longtime family-owned restaurant where most of the family members work. One of the draws of these books is their portrayals of cultural issues/values/practices; these are not generally explicitly highlighted, but are suffused throughout the novels. At a couple of points in each book, there was what felt to me like a bit of stereotyping, but only a bit. What came across more, as I read these two books one after the other, was the complexity of family relationships, the love mixed with the hurt feelings, distrust, and fractures. Both families have issues with health, money, and disagreements among themselves. There is arguing, there is suspense, there is bad behavior and good behavior. But in both books, despite many difficulties among family members, the strength of these families, and of the idea and comfort of “family,” comes through, not in a sappy way but just as an underlying truth. I felt that I was in good hands with both of these excellent writers who created families and worlds I happily spent time with. I will look for other fiction by each of these fine novelists.