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Sad Boy
Introduction
Brian Aldiss has said, “There are two kinds of writer: those that make you think, and those that make you wonder.” What he didn’t say is that there is a third kind of writer: one who makes you think and wonder, and Michael C. Keith is to be found in this elite category. Well known for his macabre plots, unforgettable characters, and those literary twists none of us ever see coming, the only thing about him that’s not surprising is that he’s been praised by everyone from USA Today and Entertainment Weekly to The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Kirkus Reviews called his memoir, The Next Better Place (Algonquin, 2003), “a relentlessly gritty but good-humored tale of hope and survival,” and the Master of Short Stories himself, Ray Bradbury, hailed Keith’s Hoag’s Object as “a wonderful collection of diverse tales.”
Sad Boy, Keith’s best compilation to date, features the classic coming-of-age vignettes with all their charm and irony. But there’s something new here, something that goes deeper. Astute readers will soon realize that Keith has taken the theme of conflict and turned it inwards, where the forces of good and evil battle it out in the psyches of every imaginable character–a pilot confessing his sins to his wife as he plummets toward certain death, a resentful boy with a misshapen cranium, an old man finally confronting his homosexuality, a teenager setting a record for the most cigarettes smoked in a 36-hour period, a schoolboy witnessing racism, a tortured psychic, a miserable clown, a man seeking revenge on the bully who made his life miserable 20 years earlier–and the result is a sadly-funny exhibition of Divine tragedy; of unrelenting conscience, love, loss, and bad judgment. Sometimes there is redemption. Sometimes there isn’t. And sometimes, well–sometimes it’s left up to the reader to decide. Food for thought–and wonder!
Robin Stratton, December 2012
Boston, MA
Brian Aldiss has said, “There are two kinds of writer: those that make you think, and those that make you wonder.” What he didn’t say is that there is a third kind of writer: one who makes you think and wonder, and Michael C. Keith is to be found in this elite category. Well known for his macabre plots, unforgettable characters, and those literary twists none of us ever see coming, the only thing about him that’s not surprising is that he’s been praised by everyone from USA Today and Entertainment Weekly to The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Kirkus Reviews called his memoir, The Next Better Place (Algonquin, 2003), “a relentlessly gritty but good-humored tale of hope and survival,” and the Master of Short Stories himself, Ray Bradbury, hailed Keith’s Hoag’s Object as “a wonderful collection of diverse tales.”
Sad Boy, Keith’s best compilation to date, features the classic coming-of-age vignettes with all their charm and irony. But there’s something new here, something that goes deeper. Astute readers will soon realize that Keith has taken the theme of conflict and turned it inwards, where the forces of good and evil battle it out in the psyches of every imaginable character–a pilot confessing his sins to his wife as he plummets toward certain death, a resentful boy with a misshapen cranium, an old man finally confronting his homosexuality, a teenager setting a record for the most cigarettes smoked in a 36-hour period, a schoolboy witnessing racism, a tortured psychic, a miserable clown, a man seeking revenge on the bully who made his life miserable 20 years earlier–and the result is a sadly-funny exhibition of Divine tragedy; of unrelenting conscience, love, loss, and bad judgment. Sometimes there is redemption. Sometimes there isn’t. And sometimes, well–sometimes it’s left up to the reader to decide. Food for thought–and wonder!
Robin Stratton, December 2012
Boston, MA
Unknown Binding
First published December 1, 2012
1 person want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 30, 2012
"My task which I am trying to achieve," writes Joseph Conrad, "by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel---it is, before all, to make you see. That---and no more, and it is everything." A couple pages into Michael C. Keith's latest literary offering, Sad Boy and you might feel the same way. We not only see a lot--see the different worlds Keith takes us to in this collection---but we also feel the richness of prose coming to life with each word we read. We are surprised, shocked, elated, and yes, sometimes even sad, as we enter the different worlds and into the lives of the characters in this collection. One thing is for certain, we are never disappointed.
What's most remarkable about the stories in this collection are the characters Keith brings to life and the predicaments he places them in--from a pilot running out of fuel and frantically trying to land his plane to a man who's only been given a few months to live. How we react to these characters when facing danger, sickness, death, or even when confronting a childhood bully at a class reunion ultimately tell us something about ourselves---our own fears, quirks, and idiosyncrasies. And along the way, Keith makes us feel a litany of emotions. We might snicker at the end of "Grounded" knowing very well the fate which awaits the husband or chuckle at the end of "Silver Lining" but it's all in good faith. Other times we are shocked when we realize what the protagonists in stories such as "Cranial Deformation" and "The Mourning After" are going to do. Each story makes us feel something different; each story forces us to react in a different way---and that is what makes this collection so enthralling.
Reading the stories in this collection reminded me why I decided to become a writer--this burning desire to share or tell a story. At the same time, I was reminded of some of the great storytellers and writers I grew up with, especially Ray Bradbury and Rod Serling. I loved and admired these writers because they knew how to tell a good story, the kind of story that you could read again and again because you marveled at the way they told a story.
The same can be said about Keith and the stories in Sad Boy. Good writing doesn't get any better than this. Each story is a nugget of literary brilliance to reflect upon and digest. These stories stay with you long after you have finished reading them, and then, you just might find yourself revisiting this collection again and again, just to be reminded of the good writing inside these pages and Keith's powerful, evocative storytelling.
What's most remarkable about the stories in this collection are the characters Keith brings to life and the predicaments he places them in--from a pilot running out of fuel and frantically trying to land his plane to a man who's only been given a few months to live. How we react to these characters when facing danger, sickness, death, or even when confronting a childhood bully at a class reunion ultimately tell us something about ourselves---our own fears, quirks, and idiosyncrasies. And along the way, Keith makes us feel a litany of emotions. We might snicker at the end of "Grounded" knowing very well the fate which awaits the husband or chuckle at the end of "Silver Lining" but it's all in good faith. Other times we are shocked when we realize what the protagonists in stories such as "Cranial Deformation" and "The Mourning After" are going to do. Each story makes us feel something different; each story forces us to react in a different way---and that is what makes this collection so enthralling.
Reading the stories in this collection reminded me why I decided to become a writer--this burning desire to share or tell a story. At the same time, I was reminded of some of the great storytellers and writers I grew up with, especially Ray Bradbury and Rod Serling. I loved and admired these writers because they knew how to tell a good story, the kind of story that you could read again and again because you marveled at the way they told a story.
The same can be said about Keith and the stories in Sad Boy. Good writing doesn't get any better than this. Each story is a nugget of literary brilliance to reflect upon and digest. These stories stay with you long after you have finished reading them, and then, you just might find yourself revisiting this collection again and again, just to be reminded of the good writing inside these pages and Keith's powerful, evocative storytelling.
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