No Relief

by Stephen Dixon

Book by Dixon, Stephen

Genres: Short Stories

126 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Stephen Dixon was a novelist and short story author who published hundreds of stories in an incredible list of literary journals. Dixon was nominated for the National Book Award twice--in 1991 for Frog and in 1995 for Interstate--and his writing also earned him a Guggenheim Fellowship, the American Academy Institute of Arts and Letters Prize for Fiction, the O. Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize.

Reviews

[JPD · Rating 4 out of 5]

This being my second dive into Dixon, there appears to be a time and place for him. However, the time and place require a certain devotion, meaning it is not to be read in conjunction with other writing. Not because the work is difficult or boring, but because others tend to overshadow his themes, characters, etc., too easily. The one Chekhov story I read this weekend overshadowed my thoughts and the entire collection. It happens.

No Relief features a few stories about schmucks who find themselves in funny, and often ultimately tragic, situations. Por ejemplo, the main character in the title story gains a sense of relief by breaking up with a woman he was with, as in every other relationship, they dump him first. He attempts to speak about this relief with strangers in a bar and a cafe, but no one offers him the chance.

If Dixon is a master of anything, it’s writing unlikable male characters, and the women around him are quick to tell them so, which can be nice, even in the 70s (1976).

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

yes

[Roxy · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Relief is the second book we read in Creative Writing class so far. I liked this a lot more than Waltzing the Cat, even though both followed the same theme of "Argh! I can't seem to find my soulmate!" Stephen Dixon's stories are much more shameless, bold, and unique than Houston's, which is why I liked it. The main characters (even though Dixon changed the name of him several times, it was practically the same guy) was a nutsoe. Nutsoes make everything more interesting. My favorite part was the way the whole thing was written- extremely colloquial, all over the place, and honest with lots of long, complicated sentences. I wouldn't call the writing humorous (it made me laugh out loud once or twice) but it also wasn't sad. It was mostly simply amusing and oddly relatable. I read it in just a few hours. I found no reason to put it down. I was being wildly entertained and had some time open. I definetely want to read more of Dixon in the future!