In the Garden of The North American Martyrs by Tobias Wolff

He started to talk almost the moment he sat down, and he didn't stop until we reached Wallingford. Was I going to Choate? What a coincidence--so was he. My first year? His too. Where was I from? Oregon? No shit? Way the hell and gone up in the boondocks, eh? He was from Indiana--Gary, Indiana. I knew the song, didn't I? I did, but he sang it for me anyway, all the way through, including the tricky ending. There were other boys in the coach, and they were staring at us, and I wished he would shut up... I wanted to know boys whose fathers ran banks and held Cabinet office and wrote books. I wanted to be their friend and go home with them on vacation and someday marry one of their sisters, and Eugene Miller didn't have much of a place in those plans. I told him I had a friend at Choate with whom I'd probably be rooming.

In the Garden is Wolff's first collection of short stories that was published back in the 70s. The above quote comes from the story, Smokers, which has a definite Holden Caulfield feel to it. But other than that story, the book exhibits a much different type of writing than Salinger's. The characters aren't extremely compelling in themselves, the dialogue is less witty, and the plot plays more of a role. I'm not completely sure of this theory but I think it's the subtleties in Wolff's writing that makes him so good.

I especially liked this one story about 3 friends going hunting. One of them is kind of the pick-on, and I really like how he describes this. For instance: Tub had trouble getting through the fences. Frank and Kenny could have helped him; they could have lifted up on the top wire and stepped on the bottom wire, but they didn't. They stood and watched him. For me, that produces a lot of empathy. The story turns pretty serious but as it ends Wolff downplays the actually drastic situation to make it not feel so heavy. It's almost like he's unable to do otherwise.

The title story is also a winner. I've read a fair amount of short stories in the past year and every now and then I would reach the last sentence, sit there and wonder if I missed something. It's weird how some great stories don't even seem like stories at all. Anyway, this story is different in that it has a clear climax and such a defining moment. It's about a professor who gets invited to interview at this prestigious university but she finds out it's not quite what she thought it was.

I know one, maybe two, stories are a little dull, but at the end of most I was taking one of two paths: either flipping back to reread passages or immediately starting the next one. I can recommend this book to the reader who likes stories of everyday life in typical suburbia. Wolff doesn't really display his creative, out-of-the-box side here, although that side does exist--Bullet to the Brain (in a newer collection) is definitely creative. I'd say fans of Raymond Carver and probably Cheever will enjoy this book mucho. And Hey! Raymond Carver's actually a huge fan: "I have not read a book of stories in years that has given me such a shock of amazement and recognition--and such pleasure." And with a top writer that looks like this, with THAT intense a glare, it's amazing if he affords you any attention at all. I bet he talked like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino.