Wide Eyed

by Trinie Dalton

In Trinie Dalton's tweaked vision of reality, psychic communications between herself and Mick Jagger, The Flaming Lips, Marc Bolan, Lou Reed, and Pavement are daily occurrences. Animals also populate this book; beavers, hamsters, salamanders, black widows, owls, llamas, bats, and many more are characters who befriend the narrator. This collection of stories is told by a woman compelled to divulge her secrets, fantasies, and obsessions with native Californian animals, glam rock icons, and horror movies, among other things. With a setting rooted in urban Los Angeles but colored by mythic tales of beauty borrowed from medieval times, Shakespeare, and Grimm's fairy tales, Wide Eyed makes the difficulties of surviving in a contemporary American city more palatable by showing the reader that magic and escape is always possible.

Stories include, "Hummingbird Moonshine," in which the narrator's frustrated hunt for authentic religion in botanicas and science books culminates in a spiritual connection made with a hummingbird. In "Oceanic," she resolves to marry a manatee after a drunken pre-party for her best friend's wedding. In "Tiles," four vignettes about bloody accidents in tiled bathrooms intermingle with scenes from Dalton's favorite scary movies.

Featuring oddball prose in the traditions of Dalton's literary heroes--Denton Welch, Robert Walser, and Jane Bowles--these stories have a dreamy, imaginative quality that reveal a peculiar state of mental ecstasy. To be inside the mind of Trinie Dalton is to be escorted into bliss.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Surreal, Magical Realism, 21st Century, Contemporary, Womens

178 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Trinie Dalton is an author, editor, and curator based in Los Angeles. She teaches creative writing.

She received a BA in creative writing and poetry from University of Southern California and an MFA from the Bennington College Writing Seminars. She has taught at Columbia University, Bard College, Milton Avery Graduate School, Vermont College of Fine Arts, University of Southern California, Dornsife School of Liberal Arts, English Department Art Center College of Design, NYU, Steinhardt Department of Art and Art Professions, and Pratt Institute, Writing for Performance, Publication, and Media Department.

Trinie Dalton is the editor of “Mythtym,” a new anthology of essays, fiction and artwork which includes the writing of Dodie Bellamy, Amy Gerstler, and Rachel Kushner among others.

Trinie Dalton is known for making handmade publications of her books and including participatory elements of her projects.

Her book Wide Eyed (Akashic) was a finalist for the Believer Magazine book award.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently I wrote this column for NoveList titled Wondrous Strange, all about these emerging and emerged surrealists and fabulists such as Kelly Link and Aimee Bender. I forgot to mention Trinie Dalton in this connection, whose short story collection Wide Eyed has been one of my favorite books in this not-a-genre. (My journey to this book was one of those wonderfully oblique paths, via Matthew Stokoe’s ultra-bleak noir High Life - a tremendous read, and my second favorite book involving ill-gotten human kidneys - which was published under Akashic Press’ Little House on the Bowery imprint, which also features Dalton’s totally different sort of book). Like Kelly Link only more so, Dalton beats the membrane between the fantastic and the real to airy thinness, inviting the reader in with a charming, ingenuous low-key candor. A story might start with suburban kids messing around, choreographing dance routines to Fleetwood Mac and Juice Newton, but somehow wind up discussing stepfathers, lobsters, and spermatozoa with Mick Jagger. Then there’s the story that begins with this great line: “My face is not exactly like two dogs humping, but it is just as fascinating and embarrassing.” Dalton keeps one eye on nature; there are a lot of animals here – mosquitoes and manatee, cats, crabs, and Chewbacca, or at least the kid who is Chewbacca in a childhood Star Wars fantasy. Sometimes nature returns the favor, like the hummingbird that gives her a mean look and something approximating a Billy Idol sneer. There are odd epistles between a disheartened woman and one of Santa’s elves, creepy dudes, slumber parties that go wrong, and large expanses of Nintendo Burgertime. Dalton’s territory seems to be between childhood and what comes after, a place where magic and wonder and banality and hurt are inextricably bound up with the logic of dreams, drugs, and dreary afternoons. I sure hope she writes more soon.

[Oriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

after reading: Gosh well I really liked these stories. They're very sexy, but with a bunch of adverbial modifiers: dirtily, creepily, tautly, darkly. I like Trinie Dalton's style a lot, which is sort of falsely light, but then subtly pounding and tense underneath. Also she includes a lot of semi-arcane knowledge about mushrooms and plants and horror movies and such. Especially good: "Decrepit", "The Tide of My Mounting Sympathy", "Chrysalis" (the image of the dirty man, the spit, and the panties is the one I keep discovering in my head), "Tiles", "A Giant Loves You", "A Unicorn-Lover's Road Trip", "Lou in the Moonlight". I guess I appreciate short story collections like this where all the stories kinda build on one another, creating a singular mood or tone throughout. But (sorry, Amanda) I'd still rather read a novel.

before reading: Wow, I've been meaning to check out this cool imprint-let, but haven't gotten around to it yet. This one, though, which is apparently comparable to two of my most favorite ladies (Aimee Bender & Kelly Link), seems like exactly the right place to start.

[Lee Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most semi-awesome, original, consistently voiced, imaginative, post-psychedelic, bric-a-brac-addled story collection staring Marc Bolan and Lou Reed ever written. Ideal chick lit for the literate neo-hippie.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trinie Dalton is Francesca Lia Block for grownups. Her stories are, at once, magical and urban and bizarre and hip. Hummingbirds and sleepovers and boys and tapes and stuff we all like. Sometimes I feel like she's not trying as hard as she could to perfect or edit her stuff, but it's so appealing and fuzzy that I don't really care. Lovely.

[r. fay · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5

sublime. beautifully observational. i love writers who leave things as they are, and know that words next to nature say nothing about nature, only about ourselves. cant wait to scrounge around for some more Dalton writing. Im friending her on facebook honestly

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really wanted to love this book, partially because anything I'd read about it made it seem like it was right up my alley, and also because the cover artwork is fucking great. When I started reading Trinie Dalton's stories I got a little hung up on the annoyingly hip references and found myself rolling my eyes at all the cultural name-dropping. On the one hand, I guess I can feel cool that I "get it" and on the other hand I was really bored by it, sort of how everyone told me I was going to love Juno and I just felt like it was taking hipster obsession to a point that could seem "quirky" and "fun" for the public at large. Except that in these stories, I secretly kind of got to like it after I realized how great the stories themselves actually were. "Faces" was the first story to blow me away, and it was swiftly followed by "Get Comfortable" which resonated with me so much that I actually felt uplifted by it. Though the voice can get kind of monotonous story to story (I think the majority of them are actually narrated by the same 'character' which might simply be an extension of Dalton herself), there are a few that really stick out because they are so different. One of these "Chrysalis", is possibly one of the best short stories I've read, and convinced me once and for all that the writer is talented beyond being able to make a sly pop culture reference. The collection does a great job of balancing hilarity and horror and tempers the outright weirdness with simple & lovely mystery. And I loved the repeated themes of communing with nature in stories like "Animal Party" and "A Giant Loves You" and "Fungus Mental Telepathy" and "Decrepit". What's more, the when I re-read some of these stories they all took on this pretty radically feminist bent, in the best way. I feel like I could probably recommend this book as a test; if you don't like it, we might not get along, and how weird you'll think I am would be directly proportional to how weird you thought the book is. Too bad I'm still a long way off from reading short fiction to my dates.

[Printable Tire]

If, like me, you enter this book expecting a collection of short stories, you will be disappointed. Only one or two sections could really be considered "stories." But if you're willing to expand your notion of what a book of stuff can be, and see Wide Eyed as sort of following in the tradition of the Sketchbook of Washington Irving, it can be a pretty interesting hodgepodge of musings on the supernatural, totems and fetishes, the normal natural, relationships and other kind of neat stuff. I like books like this, and wish there were more of them.

Found in a coffee shop in Newport, Rhode Island and left in a coffee shop in Gainesville, Florida.

[Dustin Reade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. I wish there was a way I could eat this book and have it go to my head instead of my stomach. I wish I could digest it with my brain and then thought-regurgitate it back up whenever I needed it. Like a kangaroo, or a unicorn. Never have a read a more beautiful, whimsical, wonderful collection of stories. Never have I felt more like a semi-disturbed middle-child of divorce than while reading this book. The descriptions of dead animals, chintzy jade unicorns, night gardens, glass caskets, dog fur...sigh. So good.

So effin' good.

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Coco Rosie were a book..

[Kristal · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories were fun and sticky and gross. Painful the way remembering the half forgotten, uncomfortable, embarrassing things that happened in childhood that you don’t like thinking about is painful. I felt safe with the author with these feelings, though- her stories were honest and funny, never maudlin or exploitive. Maybe read it on a sunny day, and not right before bed when you’re alone with your thoughts in the dark like I did.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the weirdest, most disgusting book I’ve ever read and I loved absolutely every second of it. I’ll probably read this over and over until I inevitably loan it out and never see it again.

[Callie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I jumped in to Wide Eyed whole heartedly right off the bat. I knew when I read the Pavement lyrics open up the first story I had discovered a gem... and had Ms. Dalton kept to stories where slumber parties & unicorn trinkets took center stage, I would have been more inclined to leave 5 stars.

However, "Tiles" threw me for a complete loop and was difficult to get through. It definitely took a star off for me. Really horrible images of bloody oily patches floating in bath tubs like bloody lily pads? Yeah, I don't think I need to say much more...

Still, as a whole, these are stories for the most part familiar and oddly comforting.

[Adam Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fucking awesome.

[Rach · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*s
Magic musings. I appreciate its benevolent worldview and unyielding sincerity. Reminds me of Whack World in a lot of ways–indebted to a child's perspective, each piece too short to grip on to, the themes beginning to double over onto themselves as the piece progresses, but ultimately each story is standalone. Not bad.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I *loved* this as a Surrealist book. If I had read this not knowing what Surrealist books are, I’d think it was funny and weird. I’m glad I own it as I’m sure I’ll get different things out of it throughout picking it up during my life.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this sweet and strange book.

[Pearson Robbins · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book made me feel extremely annoyed. cool cover art though

[Ashlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wtf did I just read??? A bunch of morbid, erotic, And disturbing short stories???!

[Zer0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Post punk and weird as hell. I wish I'd read this in high school when it came out. This certainly took me back to those days of being a weird teenager. This just did something to me and I love it.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

so playful… I reread all the time to hotwire my imagination

[Laura Obscura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lush, solid writing for and about unhinged women in a dream state.

[lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

deranged. rereading was a treat

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eccentric little trips.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably going to be the book that gets me interested in so-called Small Press books. I got this one in the Small Press section recommended by the little piece of paper stuck to the bookshelf with an employee's recommendation scrawled on it. It's easy reading, but it's very well written. It's a book of short stories of the author's life, but it's quirky and endearing, at times funny and serious. In few words, the author portrays herself with unusual clarity. Each story gives the reader another insight or two of the authors personality.

Addendum upon completion: I finished this book and I really really enjoyed it. This is another book that I am struggling with to assign an integer star rating. 4 stars? 5 stars? I rated In Our Time 4 stars (which I should probably bump to 5 stars). Is this book as good as that one? Hell no. But how much did I enjoy it? A lot. It was really fun to read and I looked forward to the next story to see what little tidbit of her life and personality she would expose to the reader. Rating a book on enjoyment vs. how good the book is a bit tricky. This book was very enjoyable and I liked it a lot. 4.5 stars maybe?

[Emma Frey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my shit. I don't know if it'll be your shit, but it hit me in all the right places.

Sample language: "The plants' stems get hard as I water them. Watering plants is a feminine thing to do."

Nothing in here leaves reality, but the narrator finds the strangest things about reality and revels in the oddity, propping it up and luxuriating in it, rolling around in it and staring at it with bright, wide eyes like a child.

That's not to say the subject matter is juvenile - images of elves and unicorns are interspersed among taboo, creepy incidents and tones. Dalton's mind must be exciting - very vibrant, quick, shiny. I'd like to meet her.

This won't be for everyone, but if you're into embellishments of reality verging on surrealism, give "Wide Eyed" a look.

[George Ilsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally read this in about 2006 after meeting Dalton at a reading. Just re-read this collection. Dalton's artwork adorns the volume: chakra-sasquatch on the front (no relevance to text, but adorable image) with unicorns on the back (there are unicorn references in text).

THis is presented as fiction, however, reads like creative non-fiction. Every piece has a first person narrator who is typically undisclosed. Sometimes a boyfriend Matt is mentioned; so these are linked stories. Dalton has a gift for presenting the surreal or the weird-but-true; the weakness here is the endings. The situations are presented, they move a bit, and then that is all.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really had no idea what this book would be about. honestly I just grabbed it at the library due to it's cover. The cover really is exactly what this book is about though. It's short stories about the most random but perfect ideas you could think of. Big Foot, unicorns, fur, sex, ghosts and everything else you could imagine. The writing is on point and this took me on a wonderful little fantasy journey. I enjoyed it very much and am interested now in learning more about the author.

[Esther Cervantes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought multiple copies of this (some for giving away) based on reading just one story, Hummingbird Moonshine. I find all short story collections samey, especially if they all have the same narrator voice. That said, I really like Trinie Dalton's narrator voice. So, I'm rating this as high as I can imagine rating a short story collection. Casual, intimate, philosophical, LA-based, woman-voiced magical realism.

[Audra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories that hit home were bullseye beautiful, and I will read them again and again. These are stories to be read aloud, alone to yourself or to good friends. There are perfect lines. There were some forgettable ones as well in this collection, but the plan is to keep an eye out for her latest.

[SadieReadsAgain · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story collection, but "stories" isn't really the best thing to call her writing. It was more like short musings...almost like a really stoned Livejournal-er, but not as bargain bin as that sounds. She's an interesting writer. Sometimes her analogies are a little too hippy for me, but she's funny and interesting. I should look her up to see if she's got anything else published.