Ancestors and Others

September 7, 2009
Chappell's newest culls from a lengthy, productive career; the result, a broad, richly textured anthology that exquisitely captures the author's contribution to Southern literature. The title story is classic Chappell: as a North Carolina couple is visited by laboratory-resurrected Civil War–veteran forefathers, elements of Southern culture are explored through fantastic plot twists. This supernatural streak runs throughout, illuminating subjects as diverse as family, astronomy, gender and deer hunting. Sometimes the extraordinary is rendered subtly, as in “Duet,” where a bereaved man learns to express himself musically following the death of a friend. Sometimes the magic comes intensely to the forefront, as in “Linnaeus Forgets,” where the “father of botany” is visited by tiny flying people. Sometimes, as with “The Three Boxes,” Chappell's writing becomes more thought experiment than fiction and his style succumbs to the weight of allegory. At its best, however, Chappell's careful, evocative prose surprises with the quiet power of its descriptions.

September 15, 2009
From Southern poet/novelist Chappell (Look Back All the Green Valley, 1999, etc.), a richly varied collection of short fiction.

The stories, most of them previously published, range from contemporary to historical and futuristic, from realism through the supernatural to absurdism. What they mostly have in common is their setting in the North Carolina mountains."Tradition" provides a good example of Chappell's robust realism, describing a hunting party ruined by a deeply troubled vet."Duet" is the pitch-perfect tale of Caney and Kermit, two buddies who sang and played guitar together until Caney's accidental death; it tracks Kermit's complicated mourning. One of the most resonant pieces has a supernatural edge."Ember" takes a country-music story line (jealous lover shoots two-timing sweetheart) and raises it to another level, as he meets other men who have also killed her in a grim mountainside purgatory. Hillbilly Gothic best describes"Alma," in which captive women are herded like cattle. Chappell artfully blends homespun reality with shimmering fantasy in"The Somewhere Doors" (down-at-heels SF writer finds redemption close to home), while"The Three Boxes" is a powerful fable about racial justice. Peering into the future in the title story, Chappell sees Civil War re-enactment running amok; bio-engineered veterans make disastrous houseguests, he reveals. Looking back in"Moments of Light," he does Haydn proud, sending the composer via a telescope on a revelatory journey through space. Not everything works."Cr'che" is labored whimsy about barnyard animals allowed to talk once a year."Bon Ton" builds suspense nicely as we wonder what service mysterious Harris T. Bonforth provides the stream of visitors to his room at the Waltmon Inn, but it comes to a picayune end. Similarly,"The Lodger" has an intriguing premise (dead poet manqu attempts to possess a librarian's mind) but trails off into a swipe at pretentious literary criticism.

A heaped literary plate with something for every taste.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 15, 2009
This artful collection of stories spans the breadth of the reading experience. Prize-winning poet and novelist Chappell ("Dagon; I Am One of You Forever") juxtaposes allegorical tales with Appalachian stories and unworldly works of imagination. In "The Lodger," he pokes fun at literature through the character of Robert Ackley, a librarian possessed by a demonic poet. In "Alma," we meet a strange but familiar world where women seem to be considered livestock. Each story exhibits Chappell's tight grip on the reader. "Tradition," a tale of a hunting trip gone awry, takes a direct route to a fine-tipped resolution, as does "Bon Ton," about the burden of everyday secrets. Chappell also provides more fantastic fare. In "The Somewhere Doors," we meet Arthur Stakl, a wildly imaginative sf writer contacted by undercover aliens offering him a choice that changes his life. VERDICT A perfect book for the reluctant short-story reader. For all story collections and wherever cutting-edge writing is appreciated.Henry Bankhead, Los Gatos P.L., CA

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