Broken Record Technique

by Lee Henderson

Adolescent boys lost in sumo wrestler costumes battle it out in a suburban yard as their parents stake the odds. A boy disappears from his home, lured by a man who looks exactly like his father. A young man spends a potentially heroic day with his wife at the new wave pool, while trying to save his marriage. These are quirky, engaging stories both afflicted and inspired by the profound isolation and psychic drift that are inherent in a world of talk show television, mega-malls, and suburban sprawl. In his stunning and critically acclaimed debut collection, Lee Henderson evokes a world both utterly strange, yet eerily familiar.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Canada

286 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2002

About the author

Lee Henderson is the author of the award-winning short story collection The Broken Record Technique and is a contributing editor to the arts magazines Border Crossings and Contemporary. He lives in Vancouver.

Reviews

[Andrew Kaufman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Stunningly written, beautiful and sad, making believe made real. Hopefully this book will become the foundation of a new Canadian literature. Come on Mr. Hendeson - where is your next book?

[lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this book.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am writing this review in 2015, but I read the book in 2002 when it was published. I could have sworn I reviewed it already, but alas, no dice.

I first ran across Lee in the X/Y chat rooms on the now defunct DavidLynch.com website (his handle: "leehen." Mine: "therat," a handle that I hated as soon as I entered it). I say "defunct" not because it doesn't exist anymore, but because it's no longer a membership-only community of Lynch fans. I miss it. Life at DL.com felt more Pynchonian than Lynchian, but somehow it all just worked. (Shout out to the old crew, some of whom are Goodreaders.)

I recall Lee announcing that this book was published, and I recall wanting a copy immediately. I believe I had to order it from Canada. Dude made me work for it. As soon as I received it, I shot it back out in the mail to Lee for him to sign. Yeah, I love signed books. They hold a personal value that far exceeds anything that I could get by selling them, so I never sell them.

Lee, generous soul that he was, not only signed the book but also wrote notes all over the damn thing. If there was a favorite passage, or if some words felt awkward to him, or even if he just felt like doodling a doodle, out came the pen and pen was applied to my book. And holy shiz, I loved this in ways I can never adequately explain. It is by far the most personal copy of a book that I have ever received, an absolute treasure, and a book that I will never EVER loan out so don't even ask. Loaned books never return intact. You know who you are, book killers. Shame on you.

But what about the book itself? The stories were funny, disturbing, engaging, and they lead me to question Lee's relationship with his father (nothing evil, get your mind out of the gutter). When asked about this last bit, Lee told me he has a great relationship with his dad so all is well in Henderson Family Land. That's good.

I will need to reread this book to do the stories more justice in a review. It's been 13 years, and all I can remember was being blown away and very happy that I read it. My brief personal connection with Lee colored my opinion, I have no doubts about that, but I've done enough reading to know when even a friend writes a stinker and this was on the opposite end of that spectrum. Cool guy, cool book. Read it.

Oh, and don't bug Lee about getting him to write/draw in your book. He's probably too busy, and besides, I like having a one-off.

[Nola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting read. There is no pattern to the stories - so this can be good or bad. Personally, I enjoy the surprises, which I got from this book. Funny, sad, confused - the stories had me feeling all of these emotions and kept me reading ... so overall - pretty good.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all-time favourite collections of stories, in particular, "W" and "Sheep Dub." Henderson's sense of humour, his dark wit, his insights into the human heart, all make these stories resonate long after you're finished reading them.

[Emily Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty decent for a dude from the prairies. ;)

[Loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely and jagged and hard, these stories are. I want to go back and re-read some of these. They're wonderful.