Rate this book

Call It What You Want (2010)

by Keith Lee Morris(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0982503083 (ISBN13: 9780982503089)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Tin House Books

review 1: This was a gift from my father, who has never chosen a book for me, until now, that was a quite right fit.Morris is a good writer, not a great one. But he finds some elegant solutions to problems any writer might find him or herself addressing, and that indicates, to me, that he's got a fine, clever mind for fiction.An example: In one story the protagonist is forced, though he tries hard to avoid it, to contemplate his wife's probably infidelity. He makes the discovery by finding an object in his home, one which doesn't, per se, belong. Morris could have used any number of little things, but he uses an un-smoked cigarette, under the lip of a kitchen cabinet. The cigarette ties to remembered events that take on increased significance as the protagonist sits at his kitc... morehen table, valuing the cigarette in his fingers, remembering.Think about it. The other man leaves a cigarette, and this indicates a slew of other data about him. Imagine if the guy left a hanky. What would that point to? How about a fancy pen? Again, it'd point to other ideas, other aspects of character, which wouldn't work as well (the protagonist and his rival each have an economic status, a social position, proclivities, etc...without revealing too much, I'll say all this is elegantly made clear).The cigarette, as one reads the story, is conspicuously the best choice. It's interesting that it does feel conspicuous, because a writer assumes that his hand should remain invisible to his readers. But the cigarette is--sorry to repeat, but the word fits--elegant, and correct.Other stories in the collection are perhaps too stylish (playing with voice, ambiguity between fantasy and reality, blahblah).Morris also sometimes suffers from an inability to differentiate between what's necessary to his stories and what he can't bring himself to cut (um...no one I know has this problem *ahem!*).I read this collection in two days and came away thinking, "Well, obviously one must "write fashionably" to be published by Tin House, but one does also need to write beautifully, with at least a modicum of innovation, and ... more meticulous care than I'd like to admit").
review 2: Overall, this was an extremely provocative collection of short-stories. The underlying theme is the goals and dreams that we set for ourselves and how we can be both confined and freed by them. The way that Morris plays with dreams -- both too lofty and not lofty enough -- being captors of the dreamer was a unique take to me, and one I found very compelling.Many of the stories share features in common aside from the theme: a male, disaffected main character with a distant relationship with his wife and/or kids, a fugue of some sort and occasionally surreal elements. In my opinion, where Morris really soars is his most mundane stories. My favorite in the collection, Camel Light, is merely about a man finding a cigarette in his kitchen. But Morris' honest take on the thought process and the minute ways we fail ourselves was so poignant and truthful. The most surreal stories are also excellent -- some, such as Tired Heart and Cyclist, which start out mundane, but slide increasingly into surrealism are captivating and the theme shines in them. Rockier are some of the stories in the middle, both physically in the middle of the book and in the middle such that they are neither truly realistic, in the most mundane sense, nor fantastical. By far, the majority of the stories are readable, an interesting and novel take on the theme of dreams and goals and beautifully written. less

Download links for: Call it What You Want

Advertising