Rating: 
Summary: STORIES THAT GET TO THE HEART OF PEOPLE...
Review: Tim Gautreaux's writing is simply amazingly good. His characters are sublimely human, and he has a knack for finding the good in all of them - even those who might be a bit unsavory. He places them in situations that are ordinary and unique at the same time - and in those situations he finds ways to reveal things to us that allow us to learn more about ourselves. The characters learn about themselves as well, and this is a treasure to observe. The stories here deal with joy and sorrow and all of the areas in between. The people here are struggling to come to grips with their own families, with their work, with the people around them - and with the world in which they live. In the title piece, a man attempts to assert more of a guiding influence on his grandchildren, and in the process winds up changing several aspects of his own life as well. His trials in striving to accomplish a task given him by his wife, while sitting with his grandchildren at the same time, is presented with some of the most genuine humor I've read in a while - but it's a gentle humor, and it never belittles the characters or the situation (and this finely-tuned humor is used to good effect in several of these stories, even the more 'serious' ones. 'Misuse of light' is a moving portrait of a man who works in a camera shop learning about the lives of his customers through the small areas where their lives intersect with his. When someone sells a camera to his shop and he finds a roll of film in it, he develops it in order to get a glimpse into other lives. Opening this door can, as he learns, have jarring effects - on him as well as on the lives he enters. When he uncovers information that causes pain to the young woman who has sold him the camera, rather than abandoning his 'study', he probes a bit further in order to get to a level in this past wherein she can find a bit of peace. It's something that makes the character endearing - it's a story to restore faith. Another story dealing with faith it 'Good for the soul', in which a parish priest with a bit of a drinking problem, attempting to do a good deed (against his better judgment), runs afoul of both the law and his community. 'Easy pickings' details a rather inept thief's attempt to take advantage of a solitary elderly woman - rather than being a cakewalk, he finds that he's definitely bitten off more than he can chew. There's a great deal of the above-mentioned gentle humor in this tale - and Gautreaux delivers it with tender respect, never ridiculing his characters. 'The piano tuner' is, like 'Misuse of light', a finely-crafted work in which one character sets out to help another cope with the world - and does so with no expectations of any sort of reward. It's a good example of how those among us who are a little 'different' can find their niche - and a gentle lesson in showing such folks more tolerance. 'Resistance' is another case of one human helping another - in this instance, an elderly man, a widower, sees a need and fills it. The little girl who lives next door is very obviously the victim of an abusive, drunk father. When the neighbor learns that her parents are unable/unwilling to help her with her science project, he takes on the task himself - and the light he creates shines not only into her dark life, but also into his own. 'Sorry blood' and 'Sunset in heaven' both deal with aspects of growing old. In the former, an Alzheimer's patient is victimized by one of the lowest low-lifes you're liable to meet (and hope that you don't). In the latter, the plight of an old man similarly afflicted opens the eyes of a middle-aged man to the possibilities in his own life. 'Rodeo parole' is a frightening, surreal look at a desperate attempt by prisoners to be viewed in a more favorable light by the parole board - by making themselves sitting targets for a bull enraged by repeated electric shocks from prison guards. Its few pages explode with action. My two favorites in this collection are 'Dancing with the one-armed gal' and 'The Pine Oil Writers Conference'. In the former, a man on the run from (or is it 'to') himself meets a woman hitchhiker as he travels west from Louisiana. They're both looking for something - and neither is sure just what, although they think they know - and the 'answers' they find aren't the ones they expect. It makes for a very interesting and revealing encounter - both for the characters and the reader. 'The Pine Oil Writers Conference' is, for me, the gem of this book. Gautreaux has created the classic 'riddle wrapped in an enigma' with this story - an aspiring writer (a minister) attends the conference, hoping to find out if writing fiction is 'the thing he does best'. The short excerpt included in this story produced by the character for a conference workshop is so well written than it made me sorry there wasn't more of it. I've never read anything by Tim Gautreaux before - but you can bet I'll be looking for his other short story collection (SAME PLACE, SAME THINGS) as well as his novel (THE NEXT STEP IN THE DANCE). This little book was a great discovery.
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