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![]() ![]() ![]() As a copy editing note, the word "trawl" was used, perhaps in reference to a small shovel? This usage is unorthodox from the context I thought the word was meant to be "trowel". I would have rated this collection higher, if it had concentrated on its strengths, instead of being diluted. In this collection, one can easily see that Huang is a talented, gifted writer, but there is also too much drafty material to wade through. After reading Pineola Inn, I was reminded of the old editing truism spouted by poets - "if you have a good line take it out" (because it just overshadows the rest of the mediocre lines). The past and the present blur together in ways that only people living at the periphery of reason understand. These two strong stories were also grounded in social realism, and it was jarring to then read a story about a headless mother (or more accurately, try to read a story about a headless mother, and then just not bother). In this affecting, harrowing, and darkly hilarious debut collection, Philip Huang explores the topics that compel us and terrify us: sex, grief, and death. The best stories here, such as "Pineola Inn" and "American Widow", are undermined by other short, weak pieces which are more like sketches or undeveloped vignettes. Twelve strong stories is a better collection that a mixed bag of 18 pieces. ![]() I always think less is more, when it comes to collections. Maybe if I had read this volume after reading a couple of crappy books I would have liked it more. This book had the misfortune to be read following a brilliant novel and a stellar short fiction collection. ![]()
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