Massive Cleansing Fire

by Dave Housley

A combat photographer transitions to suburban life. An overcrowded clown car picks up too much speed. A Sara Lane Luxury Cruise takes a vindictive turn. In this series of linked stories, each one ends in fire. Woven between them are descriptions of life after a fiery apocalyptic event, something close to the end of the world.

122 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2017

About the author

Dave Housley's fourth collection of short fiction, Massive, Cleansing Fire, a series of linked stories that all end in a massive, cleansing fire, will be published by Outpost 19 Press in Spring 2017. He is the author of If I Knew the Way, I Would Take You Home (Dzanc Books), Commercial Fiction (Outpost 19), and Ryan Seacrest is Famous (Impetus Press, Dzanc Books eBook Reprint). His work has appeared in Hobart, Mid-American Review, Quarterly West, Wigleaf and some other places. He is one of the founding editors of Barrelhouse magazine, and a co-founder of the Conversations and Connections writer’s conference. Sometimes he drinks boxed wine and tweets about the things on his television at @housleydave.

Reviews

[Roxane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Linked stories about the end of the world with many beautifully observed moments. At times the connective tissue of the stories weakened but overall this is a great collection, well worth a read for both the prose and the premise.

[Daniel DiFranco · Rating 5 out of 5]

What does a Friends addicted arsonist and a war photographer have in common? What does a Paula Deen-esque character and a clown car have to do with a virus that wipes out mankind? This collection of stories ties together the multi-faceted personalities and individual experiences of people like yourself and people who you have probably never once thought about. Housley somehow gets into the mind of so many different characters and shows them to us at their lowest, their most vulnerable and lost moments. He does so with clear writing and humor and a certain grace while navigating the implications of a society bent on pop-culture—a society that is slowly being consumed by a Massive Cleansing Fire of its own making.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review comes with the disclaimer that Dave is one of my good friends, HOWEVER it's worth noting that one of the things I really like about Dave is his writing, and THEREFORE this 5-star rating, though it could be viewed with skepticism, is still a fully earned 5-star rating, and not some bullshit 3-star rating rounded up to 5 due to friendly loyalty.

Every story in this book ends with a massive cleansing fire, which may sound gimmicky (and it is, to an extent), but the thing is, the fires seem natural to the stories, and they are definitely not the most important part of the stories. If there was nothing else going on here, it would be a one-note book, some stories that are essentially jokes. But the thing Dave does really well, in all of his writing, is inhabit characters who might normally be viewed as fringe characters -- losers, people in moments of life transition, unfulfilled middle-aged people who have tried to do well but have come up with nothing to show for it-- and imbues them with real humanity and pathos. The stories are funny, and they're smart, and they're all windows into the lives of fully realized people who might be relegated to stock characters in a lesser book. My favorite story in here is the one about the 7 clowns all crammed into a clown car, where we get glimpses of each clown's POV, just a sense of their long history and working relationship and the ways they have tried to make something work in their lives.

I don't think there's a better illustration of Dave's talents than an 1800 word story that somehow makes 7 clowns (and a monkey) in a clown car seem real, human, and tragic while also making you laugh.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This linked collection provides an interesting contemplation of the human contradictory impulses of self destruction and self preservation. We want to be freed of our burdens, but we cling to the dear parts that would necessarily have to go with. It's a mixed bag, just like everything in our lives. On an individual story level, I prefer the main pieces as opposed to The Fires sequence. There is more tension in the former and thus more emotion to move, but the latter is necessary for the larger picture. On the big picture level this book is very interesting. More than just linked, there is a main theme, that destruction/preservation duality, that makes this book function almost as a novel. It is an intriguing use of the linked short story form.

[Michael B Tager · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's an entire chapter and some change about some goddamned clowns. I don't care that it's well-written, that it's funny and sad, that the thread is continued throughout the book and connected. Dave Housley wrote about a pack of clowns and an apocalypse and I'm so angry about this. I hate clowns and I hate Dave Housley.

Also, this book is really good. Most of the book is not about clowns. There's a chapter about a thinly-veiled Paula Deen that's tense and hard to read in a great way and another chapter about a dude from State Farm. So, it's not just about clowns. It's about fires and how we get in our own way. Well done, Dave Housley.

[Sophia M · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could, I would give this book 3.5 stars! I genuinely enjoyed most of the stories, and loved the ways in which they began to intertwine and connect as the collection progressed. Unfortunately, I found a lot of the language around women and violence against women to be a bit off putting, which often threw me out of the stories. Also, reading this in January versus reading it now in the time of COVID, these stories began to hit just a little bit too close to home as the truth of the characters’ world and its down fall began to take shape in the overarching narrative. Otherwise, a solid collection with an interesting and fun angle on world apocalypse.

[Nik Maack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end of the world is popular again. This incredibly slim book of short stories (some connected together, some not) reads just like the crazy crap I wrote in my late teens. We are all going to die. Good. I'm glad.

There are a few gems in here. Somewhat preachy "woke" stories of race and class. They're both fun and a lecture for the non-woke. Which can be charming and annoying.

This book is decent enough, if you're feeling bitter. But it feels like teenage angst.

I bought it while on holidays on Boston. Mostly for the title and the opening.

[Jo T · Rating 1 out of 5]

the connections between the narratives were tenuous at best, and the handling of race, gender, and sexuality were clumsy and surface-level. overall wouldn't read it again and can't really recommend it, but it had potential.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pandemic world burns

[Sian Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

This mid-apocalyptic book is perhaps the perfect little book for our times. The world may be burning, but amidst the fire there is humanity and humor and heart. Beautifully written and observed.