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A Kind of Flying: Selected Stories
Comprising stories from three out-of-print collections (The News of the World; Plan B for the Middle Class; The Hotel Eden), this hefty compilation showcases Carson's chatty, often playful narrative style and his fascination with the tricky nature of male-female relationships. Most of the stories are written in the first person, and Carlson is a master at confessional narrators: men-husbands, fathers and boyfriends-befuddled by, but enchanted with, the women in their lives. "There's a lot inside a man that never gets out," notes the sheriff-narrator of "Phenomena," but the men hold little back in these pages. In the unforgettable "Bigfoot Stole My Wife," a man tries to convince himself that his wife didn't mean to leave him, but was instead kidnapped by the hairy beast. In "Milk," one of this anthology's finest stories, a father who refuses to let his infant twin sons be fingerprinted, thinking it smacks of paranoia, realizes that, because of his overwhelming love for them, "now I am afraid of everything." Carlson's offbeat, frequently hopeful stories stand out amid the starker work of contemporaries like Richard Ford and Tobias Wolff. He doesn't ignore life's rougher spots, though: in "The Hotel Eden" a naive young meteorologist, in love with his girlfriend and thrilled with his new, enigmatic buddy, is forced by an act of betrayal to reconsider his optimism and trust. For fans of short fiction, this will prove a treat.
--Publishers Weekly
Carlson is a master of the short story. He runs the gamut of emotions and styles, from bittersweet to hysterically funny--from stories of sexual awakening and love gone wrong to zany tales and satires. Each of these 35 stories (from previous collections no longer available) is perfectly crafted and as involving as a novel. "The H Street Sledding Record" is a wonderful tale of a father's preservation of the magic of Christmas that ought to become a holiday classic. "The Chromium Hook" puts a riotous spin on the old urban legend. And, "Bigfoot Stole My Wife" and the answering "I Am Bigfoot" are as funny as they are charming. The collection is introduced by "Friends of My Youth," a story about the genesis and writing of the stories. These are stunningly artistic stories suitable for all fiction lovers.
--Elizabeth Dickie, Booklist, American Library Association
These stories are full of surprises, jolts, and lightning strikes of recognition. Do yourself a favor and read Ron Carlson.
--Stephen King
Ron Carlson is doing something unique. He's writing the chronicle, not of our losses, but of our quirky, unreliable potential for grace.
--Michael Cunningham
I was entirely and happily in Carlson's thrall. The word 'happily' seems especially apt for this writer, who is a master of that rarity in contemporary fiction, the happy ending.
--Margot Livesey, New York Times Book Review
Ron Carlson's characters embrace a sophisticated, earthy, heroic morality. They are the fellows you hope will teach your children, marry your sisters, tell you stories.
--Antonya Nelson
A Kind of Flying
W.W. Norton paperback 2003
More reviews & praise coming soon