Adam Levin’s stories have the sense of Salvador Dali’s surreal portraits—if you focus, you can even visualize the mad scientist making broad and lovely brushstrokes behind this canvas. And, like Dali’s own melting clock, this book introduces us to characters who are frozen in weird time. One is stuck working on an invention—a doll that digests food, no less—for fifteen years; another tells herself that she lost her legs to a jungle cat as an infant, denying the truth about a car accident and breaking her parents’ hearts with this charming delusion. We struggle each day with moments of risk assessment, of whether or not to text and drive, of what will hurt others and what will hurt us. We wonder, what if we had invented that gadget—what if I had written my novel?

I love a short story writer who can put these human peculiarities of feeling to the music of language, shining light into a microscope at a tiny person, who simply reflects that light back into our own souls. These stories are extra real—what some call hyper realism. Hence, the appropriate title, taken from a story, Hot Pink. This book is not dusty, and the stories are not about boring situations or characters; as Richard Ford said at the reading Tuesday, the writer’s job is to tell us something—not something we already know about. This collection is something quirky, different, constantly rewarding your attention with little surprises. No two stories even look the same on the page. They will, I think, ignite a twinkle in your eye, bestowing a taste for the bright beauty in everyday human longing.

Come visit Lisa’s new short story nook in the fiction room and try holding this good-looking volume in your hands.

WARNING: These stories aren’t loyal to much tradition; they hover in the neon light, collapse time, take up the story right in the brunt of the action. But they will certainly delight readers who aren’t afraid of a little hot pink.

Reminds me of: Grace Paley, Kevin Canty, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Lydia Davis (Each story seems to take inspiration from a different contemporary storyteller. It will be interesting to watch this writer hone his influences and develop a more distinctive voice in future work.)

by Whitney

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