The Garden State

by Gary Krist

Suburban northern New Jersey, in the vicinity of Rte. 4, is the setting for many of the amusingly perceptive vignettes in this first collection of eight stories.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

178 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1988

About the author

Gary Krist is the author of four previous narrative nonfiction books: The White Cascade, City of Scoundrels, Empire of Sin, and The Mirage Factory. He has also written three novels and two short story collections. A widely published journalist and book reviewer, Krist has been the recipient of the Stephen Crane Award, the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Lowell Thomas gold medal for travel journalism, a fiction fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Public Scholar grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. His newest book--Trespassers at the Golden Gate: A True Account of Love, Murder, and Madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco--will be published in March of 2025.

Reviews

[Glenn Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do Norman Mailer, Philip Roth, Dorothy Parker, Paul Auster, Allen Ginsberg, Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen all have in common? That’s right, all born and raised in New Jersey, the Garden State. Actually, I also share that somewhat dubious honor, thus I feel a special connection to this book of short stories by New Jersey born and bred Gary Krist published as part of the 1980s Vintage Contemporaries series.



Oh, those sweet Jersey girls. Maybe it's something in the water but growing up in New Jersey has its effect: people develop serious attitude. To provide a glimpse, below are my brief rundowns of three of the eight stories in this collection:

TRIBES OF NORTHERN NEW JERSEY
The first-person narrator, a teenager in high school, relates how there are three key adults in his life: his attractive successful home realtor mother, his father living in the house down the street since the divorce and an auto mechanic from Czechoslovakia – Siva Grencek – who is now married his mother. As the story progresses it becomes clear this adult trio form a New Jersey version of Jean Paul Sartre’s theme from his play No Exit as hell being other people.

For example, when his father stands up to give a toast at Siva and his ex-wife’s wedding reception, he starts out by saying, “I would like to propose a toast to my wife.” The narrator has to correct him under his breath: “ex-wife, ex-wife.” His father makes the correction and goes on, “A woman of grace and style, of character and good taste, in some respects.” After another typical New Jersey cutting remark, son grabs father and pulls him back down into his chair.

Later on in the story, when his father agrees to host a summer barbecue and meet Ern, a man who might turn out to be just the kind of friend he needs in his lonely, divorced life, there is a description of Ern getting out of his battered Dodge Dart: a heavy man, balding, thick reddish beard, smoking a pipe and holding a little white Chihuahua with a green T-shirt, wearing a light blue shirt open at the collar, plaid shorts, black stretch socks and white shoes. Bulls-eye, Garry Krist! Heavyset, balding, open collar, short pants, black socks, white shoe, battered car, little dog – could be the unofficial New Jersey dress code and Garden State lifestyle. And the end of this story is 100% classic Jersey: yelling and fighting and upset complete with our teenage narrator caught in the middle.

HOW I LEARNED TO RAISE THE DEAD OF BERGEN COUNTY
Mark Penfold is pressed into writing a funeral eulogy for his not so dear, departed Uncle Louie since, after all, Mark won the Sophomore Writing Prize at his local high school for his five-hundred-word essay on “The New Jersey Renaissance.” Ah, such a subject - irony, anyone? Anyway, the funeral director is so taken by Mark’s efforts that he hires the lad to write eulogies for upcoming funeral services he has scheduled at his funeral home. Turns out, Mark is so successful, he can quit his job at the local supermarket and devote his time and energies to writing.

Reflecting on Mark’s new writing job, his Aunt Lana thinks it morbid. His mother worries Mark might have to spend too much time thinking about the dead. His father is more practical, warning Mark about diseases and to keep away from the corpses. Meanwhile, Mark’s girlfriend Karen is enthusiastic about his writing career and shares her fantasy about how she and Mark can go off to Rutgers as a married couple and take turns carrying their baby to lectures in a Snuggly with a big Rutgers “R” sewn onto it.

Mark continues to write eulogies and really gets into it, conducting interviews with surviving family members to gather information and insight into the personality of the departed. And Mark’s zest for life explodes; so much so that his food takes on sharper tastes, his girlfriend’s body has a new fullness and, yes, he feels closer to the men and women he is writing eulogies for than even their relatives. This last point brings him into actual conflict with an old New Jersey woman who takes exception to the compassion and feeling he conveyed in eulogizing her aunt. What happens during Mark’s confrontation with this woman in the funeral director’s office makes this story one of the strongest in the collection.

LAYOVER
Toward the end of this tale, sitting on an airplane ready for takeoff at Newark airport, the young narrator asks an old woman from the Boston area about her layover in New Jersey. Here is the woman’s reply and the narrator’s reaction:

“Terrible,” she said eagerly, apparently glad to have someone to tell of her ordeal. “They put me up in an awful motel in East Orange. Torn curtains, smelly sheets – awful! And then no one would accept the meal voucher they gave me. I had to pay for my own.” She shook her head. “What I wouldn’t do for a home-cooked meal from my own kitchen," she said, and then slid into her seat in front of me.
Poor woman, I thought. What could be worse than being miserable and alone in East Orange, New Jersey?


American author Gary Krist, born 1957, born and bred in New Jersey and graduated from Princeton.

[Gregory]

Wrote the new book about the weeks preceding the chicago race riots
Also wrote some interesting thrillers
this book won the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from American Academy of Arts and Sciences, which is good.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the only story collection to my knowledge that takes place entirely in Bergen County NJ. (“In the vicinity of route 4,” to quote the author). very kewl

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a compelling collection until the final story, "Health," when the guy behaves in a way that's so obnoxious that my blood pressure rose just reading it. I found myself wondering if the author knew it or not. When I start to wonder that, I know I've been taken right out of the story.

Edit: So here's how "Health" ends:

A woman with an artist's studio is seeing a string of guys. She decides to try "something serious" with the narrator. Her uncle dies and she has to travel back to Knoxville for the wake. The protagonist shows up when she's just found out. She asks for a few hours to herself and for him to come back at 11. He refuses and insists on staying. They fight and she kicks him out. He comes back at 11 and says he's going to Knoxville and attending the wake with her. They come back, share the studio together, live happily ever after, and she never needs alone time or to make art by herself again.

[Kishore Karanam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Each story is unique and engaging, exploring the complexities of human relationships with honesty and insight. Krist's writing style is rich and descriptive, making it a fun read.
Best ones:
1. Layover
2. Ty and Janet
3. Tribes of Northern New Jersey
4. House Sitting

[Reginareads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bergen County never gets to be this romantic and she deserved each of these sweet tales

[Dan]

I liked it. A collection of short stories.