The Long Story – 2009

This journal is, not the least surprisingly, composed almost entirely by long, short stories. It was a joy to read, and it is my sincere hope that, at the end of this review, I will have convinced you to purchase a copy.

This journal is, not the least surprisingly, composed almost entirely by long, short stories. It was a joy to read, and it is my sincere hope that, at the end of this review, I will have convinced you to purchase a copy.

There is humor to be found, for example, in Jan Schmidt’s “The Cab Driver, the Yoga Lady, and the Cell Phone”: “He wondered if aliens from outer space looked at the earth, if they would think the streets were veins bringing people corpuscles to feed the buildings. Not to mention the lady on the corner scooping the dog doo-doo with a plastic bag over her hand. Aliens would probably think humans revered their dogs, even collected their sacred droppings.” Schmidt’s story is filled with everything from regret to mild-shock, but her humor is the part that I enjoyed most.

With Kathleen J. Stowe’s “A Good Old Dog,” I sympathized, perhaps too much, with the family’s reaction, and in particular, the son’s reaction, to his father’s stay at a hospital in the final stages of his life. Stowe solemnly writes, “But in my father’s lonely room, there seemed no purpose at all for the bright intrusive light that shone down from the fluorescent fixture above his bed. [. . .] It lit his head and shoulders in a way that made the wisps of his blond hair shine dark and greasy, and the hollows in his cheeks were gray and so unlike my father’s usual ruddy tan.” I think we’ve all got memories such as this, of loved ones passing away so slowly and yet so quickly that the shock stings for a long time after.

T. L. Toma’s “This Vision of the World,” too, is a standout amongst these stories. The lead character, named only as Knapp, had his world revealed perfectly by Toma, puzzling piece by puzzling piece. When Knapp’s self-owned business had begun to fail, his wife, Claire, an actress, arrived at home at the critical moment: “Still, none of this might have mattered had Claire not come home one afternoon – this was during the low moment of his difficulties at work – churning with good news.” This is a wonderfully written glimpse into Knapp’s future and, while I could not possibly detail the rest of the story, just know that Knapp’s love for Claire shines through every word.

I thoroughly enjoyed this journal, and will be certain to pick up future issues should I see them at my local bookstore. A collection such as this doesn’t appear too often in the vast landscape of literary journals, and it deserves a space on every bookshelf.
[web.me.com/rpburnham/Site/LongStory.html]