Excellent writing; short stories that read like the kind of plot oblivious novels I like; prairie small towns in midcentury. ( )

The beauty of a good piece of literature is the ability to empathize with the plight of the characters. A good writer can make a reader relate to the people he is talking about in a few simple words. Guy Vanderhaeghe is one such writer with that skill and he brings that skill forward repeatedly in his latest collection called Daddy Lenin And Other Stories.

http://tinyurl.com/mzc3c65 ( )

Of the nine stories in this collection, two in particular really resonated with me: "Tick Tock", which is about a conflict between next-door-neighbours in an apartment complex, and "Counsellor Sally Brings Me to the Tunnel", in which the narrator deals with the aftermath of his uncle Teddy's death. In both cases it's probably an ego thing, because I too live in an apartment building whose tenants consist primarily of elderly people (with the exception of some noisy neighbours), and because I have relatives who have experienced the physical and mental deterioration exhibited by Uncle Teddy.

All of the stories feature a male protagonist, sometimes with first-person, sometimes with third-person, and a lot of them are at the middle-aged or older end of the spectrum. Many are looking back on their lives to pivotal moments or memories they want to recapture. In this way they can be a bit similar, especially the stories that are set mostly in the 50s and 60s, but the collection as a whole works pretty well for a bus book or a "read a story a day on your lunch hour" book. ( )