Night Soul and Other Stories

November 1, 2010
Accomplished and often overlooked literary stylist McElroy (Preparations for Search) hauls out some old and some new stories that question what is knowable and what is being subverted. A teacher's comment to a Brooklynite Arab boy in "No Man's Land" that "we are all nomads" comes to encompasses the peripatetic life of the poet narrator, whose comings and goings intersect with those of the boy's. In "Mister X," another banal occurrence—an urban planner riding his bike in the middle of the night gets a flat, which is then fixed by a kindly stranger—leads the protagonist to an alluring acupuncturist and a gradual, not incidental shifting of his perceptions. Within these fractured narratives, the reader is ushered into what one story calls a "shimmer theory" of blasted perceptions: in "Character," a boyhood summer project takes on a passionate new urgency in a grown man's retelling as he imagines the anecdote to be a kind of foreplay for his (perhaps unfortunate) woman listener. McElroy is ever nimble and probing, and these stories read like intricate puzzles to be patiently pieced through.

March 1, 2011

Dense. That's the word critics and reviewers consistently use when referring to McElroy's fiction. Understandably so--his prose is full of abrupt narrative and time shifts, he routinely offers words like interinanimate, and the plots are circuitous. A novelist since 1966, when he published A Smuggler's Bible, McElroy remains a fearless experimentalist often compared to Donald Barthelme, William Gaddis, and Thomas Pynchon. This collection of 12 stories doesn't employ a single signature style--each is experimental but not homogeneously so. None of the pieces lacks for character or interesting scenarios, but the narrative voice can be overwhelming. Thankfully, a handful are more linear, and amid the cerebral paragraphs there are endearing phrases like "the fine asymmetry of the nose ring." VERDICT A difficult, heady read and an impressive testament to McElroy's prowess. Readers, however, may not be able to keep up.--Travis Fristoe, Alachua Cty. Lib. Dist., FL

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2010
McElroy, known for his lengthy, complex novels, writes equally complex short stories. The subjects of those in this collection cover a broad range, including immigrant life in Brooklyn, architecture from the point of view of a cutting-edge practitioner, acupuncture, modern art, biochemistry, ethical behavior, and physics. And while including the subject matter of his obsessions, McElroy describes situations plaguing human nature, such as the disillusionment of children, betrayal of trust, and dissolution of a long-term marriage, and also includes the ironies of constructive thoughts and intentions gone wrong. McElroy writes discursive, oddly punctuated, paragraph-length sentences. Although this style can be difficult for readers to master, the rewards are great. His plots mosey over many topics and fascinate with the knowledge of science, the arts, and city and country life displayed. Amusement at the vicissitudes of human life peppers situations with a wry humor. Public libraries with readers of postmodern literature will want this volume for fiction collections. It will increase interest in McElroys writing and attract readers to his longer works.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)