The Chauffeur

by Howard Norman

Bringing together eight previously published stories the bestselling author of The Bird Artist explores the lives of a range of characters who share a sense of loneliness and obsession. In the title story Tokyo-born Mrs. Moro is driven every day by her chauffeur, Tuttle Albers, so that she can walk the beach in hope of seeing white pelicans while her driver reads the Japanese authors she lends him and falls in love with a zoologist; in "Jenny Aloo" an Eskimo woman believes her missing son's soul is trapped inside a jukebox; and in "Kiss in the Hotel Joseph Conrad" the narrator keeps track of a woman by whom he once spurned for nearly a decade while everything around him changes.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 2002

About the author

Howard A. Norman (born 1949), is an American award-winning writer and educator. Most of his short stories and novels are set in Canada's Maritime Provinces. He has written several translations of Algonquin, Cree, Eskimo, and Inuit folklore. His books have been translated into 12 languages.

Reviews

[Joan Barton · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me the first story(The Chauffeur) was the best .

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"'You fool!' she said. 'Your brain's a buzzard house'" (78).
*He's so good at the specific detail which can--so often--really bring the story alive. Verisimilitude.
"Snow piled up like levees along the riverbank" (102).
"She wore heavy earrings that seemed responsible for her long face" (110).
"...waves roughhoused moored dinghies" (116).
"Once, when the waiter came to the table holding a tall, dark grained pepper shaker with a metal grinder at one end, Evie said almost under her breath, 'I like this restaurant because they serve pepper with a bassoon'" (174).

[ThirdCat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of short stories, many of which I’ve read before. No problem. I love the way the author writes.

[Janellyn51 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked a lot of the stories. I was surprised to see in the beginning of the book that Howard Norman thanks my friend Ande Zellman for her encouragement...surprised isn't the right word, because Ande gave me plenty of encouragement and a leg up with my small but somewhat fruitful modeling career. These are the kind of stories that don't come to any conclusions, just some sort of sad end. It stinks but it is what it is kind of ends. I liked the one about the drive in a lot. I liked the chauffeur story. They were all pretty good, just kind of sad.

[Don Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful set of thought provoking but not overly heavy short stories. A common theme may be our need to connect to another and our awkwardness in trying to do so.

I recommend this book.