Stay Up With Me

July 1, 2013
The central theme of Barbash’s venture into short fiction is grief: whether because of divorce, disease, or death, his characters all struggle to recover from emotional trauma. This struggle takes many forms: a boy copes with feelings of guilt over his brother’s death as he and his mother separately grieve in “Howling at the Moon”; in “How to Fall,” a girl goes on a skiing trip to overcome a recent breakup; and in the title story, the memory of his parents’ collapsed marriage pollutes a young man’s fraught relationship with a former lover. Barbash (The Last Good Chance) is most interesting, meanwhile, when exploring the psychosexual bonds between parents and children: in “The Women,” for example, a young man whose mother has recently died struggles with his father’s sexual dalliances; a professor confronts his repressed desire when his son starts dating a student from his class in “Her Words”; and in “The Break,” a recently separated mother fixates upon her son’s choice of lovers. Barbash is a strong storyteller who has mastered the architecture of the short story, right down to the tender, subdued prose that delights in sharp details. With a few exceptions, the exemplary craft and tight prose carry satisfying, if familiar, stories. Agent: Ellen Levine, Trident Media Group.

June 1, 2013

In this debut collection from novelist Barbash (The Last Good Chance), also author of the best-selling nonfiction On Top of the World: Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, and 9/11: A Story of Loss and Renewal, the characters are as familiar as friends and family members: In "Birthday Girl," a young girl out walking her dog is hit by a car on a dark country road. "The Women" introduces a son who comes to live with his recently widowed father and encounters in a close and personal way the women who pursue his father. Barbash shows a deep empathy for people with unlikable qualities, as seen in "Somebody's Son," in which the targets of a real estate con preying on the elderly come to know their antagonist better than he knows himself. VERDICT This appealing collection reveals a supple writer who draws us in from the start of each new story, with none of the "collection fatigue" one sometimes feels along the way from even the best practitioners of the genre. Highly recommended.--Sue Russell, Bryn Mawr, PA

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2013
Novelist and nonfiction writer Barbash's piercing first story collection explores characters reacting to the chaos and consequences of their everyday lives, from fractured relationships to the loss of a loved one and instant regret. In Balloon Night, Timkin prepares to host his annual party even though his wife abruptly left him two nights ago. As friends and strangers arrive, Timkin tries frenetically to preserve his marriage's faade rather than confront its demise. In Her Words, a teacher finds himself in an unusual situation when one of his students begins dating his son, who still lives with him. As the young couple's relationship becomes more serious, the lines between teacher and student and between father and son become blurred. The Women finds Andrew struggling to come to terms with his mother's death as his widowed father becomes a desirable commodity for the over-50 set. In The Break, a recently separated mother uneasily becomes reconciled to her son's independence while getting used to her own new circumstances. Barbash's 13 sharply eloquent tales are intricately shaded by his characters' desires.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)