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On the Plus Side
"'What happened next?' That's what everyone always asks. 'Did you break up or what? Did you have the baby?' All I can tell you is there is a plus side and a minus side to every choice you make. And fleas come back months after you think you've taken care of the problem."-Rachel (former paid intern)
"I loved my son. That's what you don't see in his version of the story. Did I approve of his lifestyle? No, no I did not. But that doesn't mean I didn't love him. The thought that it ever occurred to him to wonder, it hurts more than you can understand." -James Bannister (dead dad)
"My brother is an asshole. Why Ashley would want to tell a story from his perspective is beyond me. It would've been better to tell the story from Griff's perspective, or mine. Isn't it obvious that Greg doesn't know what he's talking about?" -April (sister)
"It happened. It shouldn't have, but it did. If I could take it back, I would. I guess that's all there is to say." --Beth (mother)
"I loved my son. That's what you don't see in his version of the story. Did I approve of his lifestyle? No, no I did not. But that doesn't mean I didn't love him. The thought that it ever occurred to him to wonder, it hurts more than you can understand." -James Bannister (dead dad)
"My brother is an asshole. Why Ashley would want to tell a story from his perspective is beyond me. It would've been better to tell the story from Griff's perspective, or mine. Isn't it obvious that Greg doesn't know what he's talking about?" -April (sister)
"It happened. It shouldn't have, but it did. If I could take it back, I would. I guess that's all there is to say." --Beth (mother)
146 pages, Paperback
Published June 9, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 17, 2023
A fabulous short story collection. All of the stories were engaging, and each had something interesting to say. I read it from cover to cover in one sitting, which is not typically how I do Short Story Collections, because it was the kind of collection I didn’t want to put down.
August 11, 2023
From Galileo Press: On The Plus Side by Ashley Cowger is an engaging collection of short fiction. I love how the writer is able to take common experiences and make them interesting, and compelling, ultimately driving them to satisfying endings. Ashely Cowger is a writer to watch!!! Here’s an excerpt from the lead story in this collection:
How To Figure the Returns
“Everything in life has a cost. It’s Econ 101 stuff. Take me, for example. Take me and Keith. Moving in with him had its drawbacks, the most obvious being that I hade to move all the way to Los Angeles, hundreds of miles away from my family and the internship – a paid one– that I’m pretty sure I would have been offered had I gone in for the interview. If I were to create a table to analyze that decision, it would include the move under the “Costs” column. There would be lots of other things too. Keith’s nose whistled while he slept, and he always stacked his pomade in the medicine cabinet in such a way that it blocked my side of the cabinet from opening.
And there was Klepto. I hate dogs.
But there would be lots to put in the “Benefits” column, too. Things like the way he looked when he got home from work, all greasy and disheveled and sexy as hell, or the fact that he made enough money, I didn’t technically need to work at all. I just did. I don’t know why.
It’s by weighing costs against benefits that you can determine something’s true worth. You also have to consider how much value to give each item. The internship, say, should probably count more than how attractive I found Keith in his mechanic’s coveralls. If I had gone to that interview, who knows where I’d be now? Not a waitress at Lollie’s. I’d probably work longer, harder days, but I’d be working as an economist.”
This is a very cohesive collection. It ends with a story called The Final Score:
“The game began forty-seven years ago. John, in his crumpled slacks after a long day at the office, sat cross-legged on the stained carpet across from Mary, nothing between them but cards. They could only play a few hands before John Jr. would notice they weren’t paying attention to him, would begin banging his teething ring against the plastic edge of playpen like a prisoner in an old movie. But a few hands at a time was better than nothing. Originally, they’d agreed they’d play to five hundred, but Mary reached the target so quickly – after just three days – they extended the objective to a thousand, then five.
It became a sort of running joke: a winner would be declared only when one of them passed away.”
I admire the Ashley Cowger’s talent for taking ordinary experiences and turning them into works of art.
How To Figure the Returns
“Everything in life has a cost. It’s Econ 101 stuff. Take me, for example. Take me and Keith. Moving in with him had its drawbacks, the most obvious being that I hade to move all the way to Los Angeles, hundreds of miles away from my family and the internship – a paid one– that I’m pretty sure I would have been offered had I gone in for the interview. If I were to create a table to analyze that decision, it would include the move under the “Costs” column. There would be lots of other things too. Keith’s nose whistled while he slept, and he always stacked his pomade in the medicine cabinet in such a way that it blocked my side of the cabinet from opening.
And there was Klepto. I hate dogs.
But there would be lots to put in the “Benefits” column, too. Things like the way he looked when he got home from work, all greasy and disheveled and sexy as hell, or the fact that he made enough money, I didn’t technically need to work at all. I just did. I don’t know why.
It’s by weighing costs against benefits that you can determine something’s true worth. You also have to consider how much value to give each item. The internship, say, should probably count more than how attractive I found Keith in his mechanic’s coveralls. If I had gone to that interview, who knows where I’d be now? Not a waitress at Lollie’s. I’d probably work longer, harder days, but I’d be working as an economist.”
This is a very cohesive collection. It ends with a story called The Final Score:
“The game began forty-seven years ago. John, in his crumpled slacks after a long day at the office, sat cross-legged on the stained carpet across from Mary, nothing between them but cards. They could only play a few hands before John Jr. would notice they weren’t paying attention to him, would begin banging his teething ring against the plastic edge of playpen like a prisoner in an old movie. But a few hands at a time was better than nothing. Originally, they’d agreed they’d play to five hundred, but Mary reached the target so quickly – after just three days – they extended the objective to a thousand, then five.
It became a sort of running joke: a winner would be declared only when one of them passed away.”
I admire the Ashley Cowger’s talent for taking ordinary experiences and turning them into works of art.
July 15, 2023
This collection is absolutely excellent. I never read story collections this fast, but I didn’t want to put it down. It’s even hard to pick a favorite story. If I had to, Straight and Narrow was probably the standout for me. I would love to read a full length novel of that one, in fact (though not in the way where it felt like it *needed* to be longer). I also loved that the collection ends with flash fiction, and I adored that story.
Great work from a great writer!
Great work from a great writer!
July 18, 2023
A fantastic set of stories exploring the tensions, the what ifs, the complexities, the banalities, of intimate relationships — partnerships, siblings, parent/child. Like in life, there are few if any tidy endings in these pieces, yet they still have a sense of completeness. Many of these I could not put down, and this is a collection that will stay with me for a long time.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews