Sorry For Your Trouble

March 16, 2020
Pulitzer-winner Ford’s middling collection (after Let Me Be Frank with You) showcases men experiencing glimmers of epiphanies amid the process of mourning. In “The Run of Yourself,” a lawyer from New Orleans lives a quiet existence in Maine after his wife’s untimely death, and a chance meeting in a bar with a younger woman leads to a platonic sleepover and an eye-opening morning walk on the beach. In “Second Language,” Jonathan, a widower who made his millions in Texas oil, begins a new life in New York City with a shaky marriage. After his new wife’s mother dies, Jonathan comforts her while realizing they will never really understand each other. In the standout story, “Displaced,” 16-year-old Henry reels from his father’s death and lives in a rooming house with his mother in Jackson, Miss. Henry befriends Niall, an Irish-American teenager; after they get drunk, Henry lets Niall kiss him, and though he’s open to being comforted, he’s unwilling to explore a sexual relationship. Ford’s unrelenting exploration of life’s bleakness and sadness makes these stories enervating, particularly compared to his previous work, though his clear, nuanced prose continues to impress. Ford is a supremely gifted writer, but he’s not at his best here.

In the latest story collection by Richard Ford, men wander--often confused and uncertain--through a maze of unrealized hopes and unfulfilled ambitions. Stephen Mendel narrates with a gravelly monotone and deliberate cadence that draw the listener in--though they also cause individual stories to run together without many distinctions between the narrating characters. Where the Irish characters Ford is known for appear, Mendel bites into the appropriate accent with relish. Female voices are rare and often noticeably nasal. Listeners in the mood to get lost in contemplation and considerations of the heart at a certain age will find much to reward them here, while others may find the lack of forward momentum frustrating. N.M. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine