Craig's review - 24 april 2008
Single-author short story collections can be quite the mixed bag. ‘Ugly Stories for Beautiful People' by James Burr (2007, Corsega Press, UK) is the perfect example.
A mixed bag isn't necessarily bad though.
It is hard to place this collection in any one genre. There are stories with a horror-edge, stories with fantasy, social dramas, romance, porn, and plain satirical comments. Eleven of the thirteen stories have seen their first light in other collections and zines, such as Ideomancer and Darkness Rising. That should be the first indication that this collection is warranted – and a good indication of the work such publications are accepting.
Wonderfully-catchy title aside, let me summarise the work within:
‘BobAndJane: A Fable in Two Indistinct Parts' is a great start to the collection, ideal for setting the quirkiness that is to follow. As is the underlying topic of most stories, this centres on an aspect of love – in fact, of a couple saying they love each other so much, well, let's just say they can no longer be apart.
‘Foetal Attractions' raises the quirkiness bar in that the story is told through the ‘eyes' of a pregnancy tester. Such a creative idea is used to show the fragile relationship of the tester's owner as the woman desperately tries to become pregnant. This is a well-written story that deepens its message with each page – the tester becomes almost God-like as it watches the woman's world crumble.
‘Blue' received an Honourable Mention in ‘The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2004' – though I have to be harsh and say I don't quite know why. I felt the story was too long – it could have started a third of the way in and wouldn't have lost any of its tension or meaning; and the horror element that receives an honourable mention is merely in the form of a creepy character that disfigures people who've had undeservingly good lives. I would like to see this character taken further in another story, because he did have potential – I just didn't ‘feel' this one.
‘It' more than makes up for the lull though. A short, witty, sarcastic story about a disease that has people who make unintelligent or out-of-place observations collapsing into their arsehole. That includes reviewers too. Thank God I'm already sitting down.
‘Life's What You Make It' is a rather clumsily written story that still had me reading to end. It is a fantasy-tinted tale of a woman who seems to have two lives, one on easy street and the other in a drug-addicted gutter. When a friend from the second reality meets the woman from the first reality, we are led to believe the woman has wrapped herself in some drug-induced paranoia, until the wonderfully clever ending. It is a long read but worthy of your time.
‘The Byronic Man' is a short conversation piece between a ‘doctor' and a ‘nerd' who desires to look anything like himself to attract the ladies. To quote the clever reference to the twisted title, “We can rebuild you…”
‘Fragments of a Schizoid Dream' shows us how a man's extreme loneliness reveals the world for what it really is. This story was a hit-and-miss for me, though I did like the idea.
‘Menage A Beaucoup' is another story that received an Honourable Mention in ‘The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2004'. This is a mix of a relationship drama with fantasy elements, where a man sits next to another on a park bench whilst awaiting his girlfriend, and learns a lesson about the strength of a first love. There is some valid social commentary in this story, though the ‘teacher' sounds like he is fifty years old when he is only twenty-nine. Nevertheless, I loved the imagery of having every woman the man looked at taking on the appearance of his first love – to the point where he couldn't look at another woman. Very strong, emotionally.
‘Mutton Pie' is an excuse for more social commentary, in that ‘you're only as young as you feel'. An interesting way to present this idea, with an old lady born on the 29 February and thus acting as if she were only 16. Another quirky tale that was great for a laugh.
‘The Dada Relationship Police' extends the concept of doomed relationships in many of the previous stories, to the point where someone receives notes and phone calls from the Dada Relationship Police to inform them their relationship is over; even if they would have thought it was fine. This is a great way to show how people begin to look at the cracks in their relationship, to pick out faults that are usually glanced over, and to look at the person a relationship has made them become. Great social commentary, James – who would have thought a note would cause so much anxiety?
‘Blot' is a strange story, with a nice assortment of ‘stain' images throughout. It follows Klein, a psychiatrist, who is forced to look into his own psyche after a rapist he's treating refuses to acknowledge the sexual shapes in a series of blot cards. I would have liked to have seen this one developed a little more before the ending, but it was powerful nonetheless. I think it would be another hit-or-miss for readers though.
‘Bernie Does Camberwell' is the obligatory porn-laced story found in so many collections, though this has more morals than most. Interchanging between a man who turns from an outcast to a sex-machine, and a female porn star who just wants a man to hold her hand, this is a great way to show people's quest for love instead of just sex. The addition of some ‘ghost porn' went over my head though, washing out the story's overall effectiveness.
‘Postscript BobAndJane' is worth mentioning on its own – a quick return to the first story with an intelligent addition of ‘The Dada Relationship Police'. Very amusing.
Now, it must be noted that this collection is not from a major publisher, and has been subjected to some of the nasty mistakes of several (but of course not all) small presses. The collection is rife with spelling and grammatical errors – very puzzling since the majority of stories were all in other collections first (which version had the overlooked editing?). This could have put me off if it weren't for the stories themselves – I'll take the ideas any day. I will also add that I disliked the fact that the page headers had no indication of the story I was reading, only the title of the collection – though it's quite clear James intended the collection to be parts of a whole, hence the lack of index page too.
As for the writing itself, despite there being thirteen very different stories, many of the characters felt the same – for the most part they smoke drugs and/or drink excessively, are paranoid about their partners, and so on. I know a lot of people are like this, and you must write what you know, but with a collection it's good to explore a larger range. That's just my opinion though. One more point I would like to make is that there was a lot of telling instead of just showing – tangent paragraphs of purple prose that could have been demonstrated through actions. I noticed this because it is something I have to focus on in my own writing (as my mentor has kindly pointed out).
James Burr has presented a very unique collection though, with some great social commentary I could empathetically understand. With some simple writing improvements, such as listed above, I know we will be seeing a lot more of his work in the future.
the novel
James Burr's 'Ugly Stories for Beautiful People' (Corsega Press, 2007) - Short Fiction Collection
