Ordinary Genius

by Thomas Fox Averill

Falling under the spell of these short stories by O. Henry Award–winning author Thomas Fox Averill, a reader might well What in the world is ordinary? If there really are “just plain folks” anywhere at all, they’d surely be in the solid Midwestern Kansas of Averill’s fiction. And yet the “ordinary” people we meet in these stories lead us into one startling encounter after another with the mystery, the magic, and, yes, the transcendence that even the most mundane life secretly holds.

 

In writing that has been called “lyrical” ( New York Times ), “compelling” ( Kansas City Star ), and “voluptuous” ( Booklist ), Averill explores the relationship between fathers and sons, the dead and the living, the natural and the unnatural. With crystalline clarity he reveals the ordinary and the extraordinary genius of a place, a time, a solitary soul embedded in the minutiae of the a young boy hunting for a runaway horse; a couple ostracized in their small town; a grieving high school basketball star; a child with a voice purer than a tuning fork; a gay son seeking his father’s acceptance; two boys playing bocce with the parish priest for high stakes—the secret of their birth. If there is magic in love, in acceptance, in sorrow and solace in all the usual places, then these stories find that magic with ordinary genius.

Genres: Short Stories

148 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

An O. Henry Award story writer, Thomas Fox Averill is Writer-in-Residence at Washburn University of Topeka, KS. His novel, rode, published by the University of New Mexico Press, was named Outstanding Western Novel of 2011 as part of the Western Heritage Awards. His recent work, "Garden Plots," consists of poems, meditations, and short-short stories about gardens, gardeners, garden design, plants, and the human relationship to nature. They can be found on his website. His most recent novel is A Carol Dickens Christmas, published by the University of New Mexico Press in 2014.

Previous novels are Secrets of the Tsil Café, and The Slow Air of Ewan MacPherson. His story collections are Ordinary Genius (University of Nebraska Press) and Seeing Mona Naked (Watermark Books).

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Challenge 2018 - Bookish: collection of short stories from a genre you are unfamiliar with. The stories were interesting, but not enough to be outstanding. I liked that they were written with settings in my area, so the places were familiar. I expected a twist at the end, but felt disappointed, as I like the author's other works.

[Laura]

This was my library's monthly book club selection. The consensus was not good. Most felt the stories were bizarre and confusing. Perhaps we just couldn't appreciate the writer's points. It was well written, however in this collection of short stories, we never really felt invested in any of the characters or their stories.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I haven't read a short story in years. Of course, there were some stories I enjoyed more than others but over all this is a good collection. I really don't see any that should be expanded into a whole novel.

[Marcel · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Shopping," "Midlin, Kansas, Jump Shot," and "Bus" are probably the strongest stories in the collection.