Stiff

by Steve Hughes

With a hearty helping of Detroit grit, the stories in Stiff pay homage to a city turned upside down by economic abandonment. Steve Hughes pushes the boundaries of realism, creating situations that seem odd and otherworldly. In his Detroit, witches cast spells to improve their husbands, chickens grow from seeds, and house painters with anger management issues declare themselves poet laureates. The characters in Stiff are all searching for something in each other―a certain wholeness or understanding, a place to rest and call home.

Hughes writes with great empathy about people who are struggling with their lives. In "Ripening," a man and woman in an illicit affair witness their genitals leaving their bodies for a rendezvous. In "Dexter's Song," a drug-addicted saxophone player meets a bored suburban woman who gives him her ex-boyfriend's sax, which unleashes a series of disasters but the instrument is so fine, so perfect, that when he holds it to his lips he can do no wrong.

Readers of contemporary fiction will enjoy this inventive and evocative collection of stories.

173 pages, Paperback

Published November 5, 2018

Reviews

[Sean Kottke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Get the dirty rebus on the cover? That's what you can expect from the stories therein. "Ripening" is a prototypical story: erections, infidelity, a surreal physical manifestation of lust. Don't get me wrong; I'm always up for some naughty reading, but there's something off-putting in this collection of post-modern Penthouse Letters. One story ("Dexter's Song") even co-opts the classic "I didn't think this would ever happen to me" line. The shortest stories are the most satisfying (I really dug the opening tale), but several ramble on mundanely without a hook. The final story has a poignancy that's undercut by an incomplete framing narrative, a male gaze teen lust fantasy, and (characteristic of all the stories) my literary pet peeve: no quotation marks to signal speech and changes in speaker. The poet Edward Hirsch described poems as messages in a bottle, and they won't wash up on every reader's shore. Ditto for nearly every other kind of writing. A few of the bottles in this collection landed on my beach spectacularly, while many more floated on, in search of a different reader to cherish them.

[seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

took me forever to finish this cause life, so for that reason i’ll give the benefit of the doubt to the author. the stories to me were either really exceptional or pretty meh. so many of the characters are hard to distinguish based on looks, social class, occupation (or lack therof), and alcoholism. aside from names, a lot of the characters here, especially the male ones, are pretty identical. also peeved at the lack of quotation marks to denote speech or change in speaker. all around an alright short story collection. can’t say i’ll read it again anytime soon but i’m glad i did and would definitely recommend it to others.

[Kristen Wellman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading STIFF! The stories alternated between funny, melancholy, gritty, and thoughtful. Yes, some of the stories are a bit out-there, but they are also very interesting. If you are a Michigander (especially from the Detroit area), then these stories will speak to you even more.

Steve Hughes is a good writer, so even if the stories are too weird, people can appreciate the quality of the writing.

[Chris Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of short stories are a little naughty, a little funny, a little poignant, and a lot about Detroit and one of its treasured neighborhoods, Hamtramck. Every story ranges from a few pages to 14, so you can enjoy this is short bursts or finish the whole thing in an evening. And what an evening it would be! Get your cheap beer, play a scratchy record, and enjoy.

[Brian Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very different stories. I like the raw grittiness of them. Easy to get into and they move at a nice fast pace.

[Joe Ohlenbusch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd collection of short stories that really felt like I needed to be drunk or high to enjoy. I really only enjoyed two.