Sunday, May 15, 2016

Are You Here For What I'm Here For?

Are You Here For What I'm Here For? by Brian Booker
Bellevue Literary Press: 5/10/16
eBook review copy; 256 pages
ISBN-13: 9781942658122

Are You Here For What I'm Here For? by Brian Booker is a very highly recommended exceptional collection of seven stories. With an acute eye for detail, intelligent presentations, and an accomplished style, Booker delivers thoughtful selections that will be appreciated by short story aficionados. Several of these stories deal with sickness, contain a sense of foreboding, mention natural disasters, and the trials of childhood. They all explore the emotional lives of fragile people.

Contents:
Brace for Impact: A teenage boy visits a girl's house with a friend, and has an encounter with her mother, who survived a plane crash.
A Drowning Accident: During an encephalitis epidemic in a small town, a boy talks to a tramp about his book of lucky numbers based on what you dream.
Are You Here for What I’m Here For?: "It was 1985 and there were two possibilities: Gina Maisley was dying, or Gina Maisley was not dying." Gina and her husband visit a health resort.
The Sleeping Sickness:  Nothing is as it seems when a disease researcher takes a train trip.
Here to Watch Over Me: A father heads up to a mountain cabin to look for his son.
Gumbo Limbo: A young blind boy finds a friend, a sea creature, and is allowed to save/keep it in a bottle.
Love Trip: A teenager is sent to a therapeutic boarding school that follows dubious practices.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Bellevue Literary Press for review purposes.

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