Touch Wood: Short Stories

by Joe Ashby Porter

“Porter is one of the most consistently rewarding writers in the United States and also among the most intelligent.”—Stephen Dixon

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

Joseph Ashby Porter (1942-2019) was an American short story writer, novelist, and Shakespeare scholar who taught at Duke University.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Hawkes refers to Joe Ashby Porter as "an American original". Heavyweight Stephen Dixon has this to say about Porter: one of the most consistently rewarding writers in the U.S., and also among the most intelligently exciting. Robert Coover has been his friend and fan of his work for decades. His collection The Kentucky Stories was a Pulitzer nominee. His works here on GR have so few eyeballs they might as well not exist. But is he truly BURIED? I purchased this collection of short stories to find out for myself.

The ten stories included in this collection show considerable range in ability to craft a short piece of fiction. There were a few stories that just didn't work for me - like a favorite recipe missing an unidentifiable key ingredient, but I appreciated what Porter was doing with language even if it didn't click with my singular reading. The two stories that glowed and really stood out ("Icehouse Burgess" and the magical realism novella "Scrupulous Amédée") are worth the investment alone. Porter can paint a beautiful scene with just a few tightly knit sentences. Here's the opening three sentences of "Scrupulous Amédée":

Clear midnight, calm sea. From his lighthouse on the islet Le Galiton, Amédée Conti sees an Arab crescent among quieter celestial lights. As white, reflections of his propane beacon shimmer on near dark waves.

I first learned about Porter from his work "For Bob" in the Review of Contemporary Fiction dedicated to Robert Coover. That piece was touching and an homage to a man Porter clearly loves and has been impacted by. I have a couple of other Porter books recently purchased; I plan to read more of him and hope to persuade others to give him a try.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Porter is doing something remarkable with these stories. At one level they seem to be repositories for rare words and rare definitions of common words. I’m not prepared to criticize this book with any solidity until I’ve deliberated and read more of his work. His simultaneous use of and resistance to narrative realism is appreciated and invites further consideration.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Porter's ability to construct extremely interesting sentences, together with a quicksilver quirkiness of plotting and imagery made for a lively freshness which I found very enjoyable. A mighty keen and subtle intelligence is on display here. My two favorites were "An Errand" and the title story.