Stoop City

November 1, 2020
Thirteen tales of loss and longing. Subtle satire and fantastical elements bring levity and subtext to Canadian author Dunnion's short fiction. The unnamed narrator of "Now Is the Time To Light Fires" mourns the death of her girlfriend, Marzana, only to be reminded of her many faults when the woman's messy, temperamental ghost starts haunting their condo. In "How We Learn To Lie," 40-something realtor Julia suspects that her lover, Jeff, who used to live downstairs with his frumpy wife, now lusts after the young woman with the sculpted ass who lives next door. "Fits Ritual" finds homeless youth Hoofy wondering if his beautiful boyfriend, Roam, has abandoned him for the rich blond target of their latest scam. In "Adoro Te Devote," life loses all meaning for gay teenager Paul when he ages out of his altar boy duties and is scorned by his secret love. And "Tracker & Flow" focuses on 43-year-old Kelly, who suffers a miscarriage and then abandons her marriage and legal career for a stray cat whose resentment of her husband rivals her own. Not every entry feels essential; some retread the same ground while others see their poignancy diluted by distractingly madcap narratives. On the balance, though, Dunnion's wistful vignettes argue persuasively that the one affliction from which all human beings suffer--regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status--is loneliness. Dunnion's second collection comprises a diverse slate of loosely linked stories with a cohesive message: Everybody hurts.

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December 21, 2020
The heroines in Dunnion’s defiant collection offer refreshingly blunt observations about the world around them, in settings alternating between the gritty and the fantastical. “How We Learn to Lie” begins with the line, “Julia would have done him in a heartbeat, before” and charts how narrator Julia, a bitter real estate agent, came to be disgusted by the “Ken-doll” client she once would have found attractive. In “Asset Mapping in Stoop City,” sex worker Sheila sardonically affirms her self-worth in a riff on advice from a social worker to “make the most of your assets”: “Sheila agrees. If you’ve got a great ass, show your ass.” Dunnion’s other protagonists are similarly resilient with yearnings that manifest as various levels of obsession. In “Now Is the Time to Light Fires,” the ghost of the heroine’s recently deceased lover keeps returning to rifle through drawers, eat, and sit idly in chairs. Cheeky irony is on full display here, as in “Oort Cloud Gets a Makeover,” in which a woman takes stock of the big house she’s rented a room in, particularly its customs and room rules: “Like a vampire, you have to be invited.” Dunnion’s indomitable heroines and wry prose make a refreshing tonic.