Darkly funny, beautifully crafted; an intense collection that plumbs the depths of boys and men’s lives.
Through the perspectives of various male characters, award-winning author Gregory D. Williams’ poignant stories delve into the lasting impact of boyhood on men’s lives, from love and lust to passion, loss, grief, trauma, and the complexities of desire, revealing the full spectrum of life in all its glory. The young boys featured in the first section are experiencing the familiar ups and downs of boyhood. What they cannot yet comprehend is how greatly their childhood experiences will shape their future as adolescents and adults. These stories, narrated from protagonists’ first-person perspectives, may be brief – some only spanning a few pages – but they carry a powerful emotional weight and offer a nuanced portrayal of boyhood. In “Rounding the Bases,” two childhood friends are torn apart by a tragic event, but through their shared love of baseball, they find their way back to each other. In “Who We Were at Twelve,” consumed by the need for retribution, two boys devise a clever plan to trap a neighborhood bully. But as their scheme unfolds, they are confronted with unforeseen and fatal ramifications. In the short story “Playing Doctor,” a medical student struggles with his own conflicting feelings during the breast examination of an attractive woman. In “Section,” a physician grapples with the realization that his unborn daughter may have Down syndrome. In “Comp,” a man, struggling with a dissatisfying marriage, comes to the realization that he still loves his wife after being approached by an attractive woman. In “Rainbow Trout,” the veil between life and death is lifted as the reader witnesses a soul’s transcendence from this realm to the unknown beyond, where secrets and mysteries await discovery. In this collection, there are a few stories that stand out and then swiftly move on to the next one. However, Williams excels at uncovering strength and courage in the everyday lives of men. The heart-wrenching, “Three Strides to Thirty,” centers on a tormented man, who is fighting against a crushing weight of sorrow following his beloved wife’s passing, desperately seeking solace and redemption, is touching enough to bring tears to readers’ eyes. Williams is an exceptional storyteller who strategically uses a reflective tone to highlight pivotal moments, and utilizes his troubled characters as narrators to emphasize the long-lasting effects of pain, guilt, and remorse. Wonderfully rich and emotionally complicated, a triumph.
A DRY HEAT: Collected Stories
Gregory D. Williams
Grand Canyon Press
Pub date April 11, 2024
ASIN Grand Canyon Press
Price $9.99 (USD) Kindle edition
