Good Trouble

by Joseph O'Neill, Danny Cambell (Reading), Robbie Daymond (Reading)

Back at dinner, somebody said that the goose thinks it's a dog. No, it doesn't. It doesn't think it's a dog. The goose doesn't think. The goose just is. And what the goose is is goose. But goose is not goose, Robert thinks. Even the goose isn't goose. In Good Trouble, the first story collection from Joseph O'Neill, author of Netherland, characters are forced to discover exactly who they are, and who they can never quite be. There's Rob, who swears he is a dependable member of society, but can't scrape together a character reference to prove that's the case. And Jayne, who has no choice but to investigate a strange noise downstairs while her husband lies glued to the bed with fear. A mother tries to find where she fits into her son's new life of semi-soft rind-washed cheeses, and a poet tries to fathom what makes a poet. Do you even have to write poetry? Packed with O'Neill's trademark acerbic humour, Good Trouble explores the maddening and secretly political space between thoughts and deeds, between men and women, between goose and not-goose.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Short Story Collection, Contemporary, Unfinished, Audiobook

Audiobook

First published June 12, 2018

About the author

Joseph^O'Neill
There is more than one author with this name on Goodreads.

Joseph O'Neill was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1964 and grew up in Mozambique, South Africa, Iran, Turkey, and Holland. His previous works include the novels This is the Life and The Breezes, and the non-fiction book Blood-Dark Track, a family history centered on the mysterious imprisonment of both his grandfathers during World War II, which was an NYT Notable Book. He writes regularly for The Atlantic. He lives with his family in New York City."

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

knew I was in for a treat from the very first story - Pardon Edward Snowden - when a request to sign a "poetician" for pardoning Edward Snowden leads into something else: the character's palpable anger at Bob Dylan for winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. (He reflects that "an ultra-celebrated multimillionaire who deals in concerts and extra-paginal iconicity is not playing the same game as a writer who sits down in a small college town and, with no prospect of meaningful financial reward, tries to come up with a handful of words…")

That story signaled to me that this collection would push the envelope, not shy away from controversy, and demand attention. And indeed, it does.

Each of these stories, many formerly published in esteemed publications like the New Yorker, shines. Of particular interest is The World of Cheese, when a mother and her adult son become estranged over his baby's impending circumcision, while he himself becomes immersed in "cheesing" trips. Or The Death of Billy Joel, when a man organizes a golf trip to Florida for his fortieth birthday, straddling a "shriveling world" with a new shot at life. Or Ponchos, which takes on an awkward visit to a fertility clinic and the aloneness of a husband and wife during the juncture. Or "The Sinking of Houston", where a father becomes obsessed with the stealing of his son's cell phone, only to be diverted by an ancient neighbor's Bay of Pigs story.

The stories carry through them a hint of mortality and focus squarely on everyday life: what we owe our friends, our spouses, ourselves and what it means to feel (or fail) at redemption. Highly accessible, just a tad bit comic, and always absorbing, I thoroughly enjoyed this slim but solid volume.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Trouble is a slim volume of short stories that I enjoyed very much. If you don't enjoy character-driven stories, this may not be a good fit for you. The best word I can use to describe the stories is that they are very human. Conflict within the stories often comes from the personality of the characters and they are, as we all are, imperfect people. Often they are reacting to mundane situations within a lifetime and I find them very relatable. There is much to think about in under 200 pages. I appreciate that.

Thank you to Penguin's First to read program for providing me with an advance copy for review.

[Donna]

I was swept away by this collection of short stories filled with flawed characters and deep insights. My only complaint is that it had to end.

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great tales but be warned - they contain bits of alienation that sneak into you, and may leave you shaken

The best way I can describe Joseph O'Neill?

I think of the New Yorker Magazine, and myself opening it to the fiction piece. That one is always tricky - because their styles go all around, but sometimes - the tale gets you in the first paragraph.

You know it's going to be good, and this week's New Yorker will be read quickly, and with little effort, because the tale is so good.

That's Joseph O'Neill. You just know from the first paragraph or two that the tale is going to be great.

He does this with every one of these tales as well. Every single one is great.

There is no overt hook. He doesn't employ Jeffery Deaver crime-drama type plot devices to bring you in.

He just brings you in, and does not let you go until the end.

The worst part about Joseph O'Neill?

His characters find alienation in the most unexpected places, and O'Neill is so good that you feel it as well.

His characters tend to be erudite, yet explore common themes - and his strength in this can become a problem if you are not wary of it

Like Dani Shapiro in Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage, O'Neill finds the bitter pill beneath this existence, and brings it to the reader in a very accessible way.

His main characters are poets and professors, scholars and thinkers - and they each find a way to be unhappy.

Except for the last one - The Sinking of the Houston - which he extends himself into crime territory, O'Neill takes the existence of an educated person, and thoroughly examines what it takes to make sure that person has little joy in their life.

Again - this is due to his skill. The stories are incredible.

But they might make you reevaluate yourself, because many of the characters end up as cautionary tales. They are interesting, but you don't want to end up like them.

In conclusion - it's still incredible

I'd check it out. Think of a New Yorker best of issue - and that's what you get here. Just keep your guard up - these tales can leave you disquieted.

But still - this is a great collection.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Netherland by the same author is one of my favourite books. Beautifully written and full of sympathy for not having it all figured out and finding a kind of redemption. It was also about cricket, a in my opinion underexplored game in the context of mid life crises.

Good Trouble did not live up to these silly expectations. No cricket. Not even a single nod. In fact a character picks up a a baseball bat. The stories are well crafted, well written but I guess I didn’t really understand what the point of each one was.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, the most significant thing about this book is that it’s the last book my older sister and I will read together. This isn’t because she passed away. It’s because she and I no longer have a relationship. It’s a complex occurrence, and it’s something that makes me deeply sad but also something that I have peace about, thank God. We stopped talking in the middle of reading this book together, and I decided to finish it anyway because I had started it, and I liked it okay, and I wanted closure. But it was hard to open it and think about her reading it and wondering if she still was. It was hard to open it and think about her buying these books for us to read, sending me my copy from Florida to New York, hard to think that one of our last text message conversations before it happened was about this book (she was on “Ponchos”; I had just finished “The Trusted Traveler”—she would always start the books we read together before me because she knows I read faster than her, and she needed a head start).
I’m glad that I finished this book. I’m glad that the relationship is over (for now). But I’m still sad that this is the last book we’ll read together. I’m still sad the relationship ended the way it did. It’s amazing how we can feel relief and also pressure in our chests from the same ending.
As for the book itself, I wrote reviews for each story with star ratings for each one. I felt most stories didn’t have a resolution. Not a conclusion, not an ending, just something to say “this is over for now.” Some did, and those were my favorites.

[Abbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I didn't enjoy this one down to personal preference rather than the writing be awful.

I find it extremely difficult to enjoy short stories and this was the issue with this book unfortunately

[SueLucie · Rating 4 out of 5]

At certain times when I need to get out of a reading rut, a good jolt of short stories seems to do the trick and this collection was perfect for me. Witty and gently subversive, observations of middle-aged male self-justification for inaction and prevarication predominate. I particularly enjoyed ‘The Poltroon Husband’ in which a man is paralysed by fear (or as he describes it, a mysterious neurological spasm) that prevents him getting out of bed at night to investigate noises downstairs, forcing his wife to do so. In a similar vein, in ‘The Sinking of the Houston’ a father, determined to confront his son’s mugger, finds himself distracted by his neighbour’s old war stories.

One that resonated with me especially is ‘The Referees’, in which a divorced man looking to rent an apartment for himself for the first time in years has difficulty finding anyone willing to write him a character reference. My absolute favourite, though, is a woman’s story, ’The World of Cheese’, in which a mother is flummoxed by her son’s contradictory behaviour and double-speak, making her the culprit in their family rift.

The humour is subtle, perfectly aimed and very, very effective. I loved it. Some interesting images, too - one that struck me particularly is one’s world as a bar of soap, shriveling to a small, hard nugget, and the luxurious relief we feel when we reach the point when we feel we can renew it.

I haven’t read anything by Joseph O’Neill before and this collection has inspired me to seek out his novels, starting with the award-winning and acclaimed ‘Netherland’.

With thanks to Harper Collins 4th Estate via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC - one with a much more attractive cover picture than the edition currently on goodreads, of a white goose.

[Eric Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joseph O'Neill is undoubtedly an intelligent writer, but in Good Trouble, his debut stories collection, his erudite phrasing was a bit much, making the book rather uneven. I think he writes human stories better than satire. Of his novels, for example, Netherland was far superior to The Dog. In this collection, stories such as "The Moustache in 2010" lost me, but "Pardon Edward Snowden" balanced the styles well, and "The Sinking of the Houston" and "Ponchos" concluded brilliantly and left me deep in thought. He writes his characters extremely well. Like any accomplished short prose writer, O'Neill says so much about his characters' lives in a few short pages. Inferences abound. The stories that soared, however, were those fixed on everyday life's complexities, struggles, and shortcomings and less on the failed careers of academics. In adopting their voices, he alienated his readers, for while we may not need to like the character, we want to be invested in the very least, and many of those creations were rather smug and hollow. The good news is that no story is too long, and there's enough good in here to warrant a cover-to-cover read.

[Kelly Steed · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received Good Trouble by Joseph O’Neill in my first surprise box from Box of Stories - being only 157 pages long I thought I’d squeeze it in before I start my next read.

I contemplated whether 1 star was a bit harsh but I really did not enjoy this book. I’ve come to the conclusion that short stories are really not my thing, moreover these short stories would often take a completely unexpected & unrelated turn towards the end that made me feel confused and that the rest of the story was just padding.

[Jill Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not one for short stories, so I surprised myself when I chose to read and review "Good Trouble: Stories", by Joseph O'Neill. I don't like starting a story, just to see it end...shortly. I always want "more" - more story, more characters. And yet it is for this very readerly request - "more" - that the stories in O'Neill's book do work. I read all 11 of them - a couple appealed to me less than the others - and to all I had the reaction that O'Neill HAD written "enough"; that he was able to bring his story home in ten or so pages. That is a special talent, as far as I'm concerned.

Most of the 11 stories are written in the first person - a very intimate way to write that often brings the reader closer. Most were about men in modern society, dealing with the stuff men nowadays have to deal with. Finding a romantic partner. Trying to figure out what to do when you get one. And, the biggie, what to do if you part. One fellow, in the story, "The Referees", has just moved to New York City after a divorce, and is forced to find two people who will write him a reference to rent an apartment. Simple, you might say, we all have people - loved ones or merely liked ones - who can vouch for our sterling characters in an email. Not this poor guy; he can't seem to count on much support from anyone he knows! Another story I liked, "The World of Cheese", was the short tale of a middle-aged women - Breda Morrissey - who is renegotiating life as a woman separated from her husband - still deep in the throes of a mid-life crisis and living in Costa Rica. She finds herself at odds with everyone in her life, especially her son who has married a Jewish woman and is working out their new-born son's religious future. "To circumcise or not" is not usually a topic in fiction, but here Joseph O'Neill's nuanced writing makes it a go-to point in "Cheese".

All the stories in O'Neill's book are great and most would fit into the "more" question. Most could be extended to longer stories, BUT, all were perfect in the containment O'Neil writes. (I also loved Joseph Epstein's short stories, set in Chicago.)

[Isabell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely collection of short stories. Some I cared less for (the ones about depressed middle-aged men... one of them would have sufficed!), but some I absolutely loved.

Some random sentences I liked:

”Mindfulness, if I’ve understood it correctly, means paying very, very close attention to the continuance of one’s subjectivity.”

”Apparently—and here, Nietzsche and Cioran and above all Adorno were Mark’s masters—the trick was to simply put to one side all epistemological difficulties and just steam ahead into the realm of assertion and opinion and emphasis.”

”She was suddenly exhausted and, in that increasingly familiar and frightening way, adrift—from the world of Faye Dunaway, of children, of cheese.”

”Indeed, it may be anticipated that future commentators will detect, in the whiskered countenances so typical of our epoch, a melancholy identification on the part of young Americans with their complacent and doomed counterparts in Austria-Hungary.”

”It is assumed that the writer’s first allegiance is to language. This is false. The writer’s first allegiance is to silence.”

[Evan]

"The fish roundabout consisted of a ring-shaped tank of seawater in which pelagic creatures from San Francisco Bay sped by in a counterclockwise direction. William stood silently in the dark of the viewing area as large and small swimmers orbited him ... He contemplated the rush of fish from a metaphysical perspective. These circuiteers were incapable of seeing, let alone comprehending, the nonaquatic dimension in which he stood. Ignorant of the nature and limits of their element, cluelessly and helplessly circumfluent, they went onward, for the entertainment of unimaginable extraneous beings, without the slightest prospect of progress or illumination or salvation. William filled with despair. The fish roundabout was an unimprovable metaphor of the human condition."

[Rikke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re: The rating. As a collection of short stories this is certainly a good one. However, if I were to compare it to other contemporary fiction (as in novels I've read, or would actually choose to read from that genre) enjoyment-wise this one would be a 2-star read. Mostly because the stories are character-driven and to short to actually engage me in the snippets of the characters lives.
Love the cover, which is the reason the collection caught my attention.

[William Koon · Rating 3 out of 5]

In all fairness, I must admit to liking Joseph O’Neill’s longer fiction more than his short stories. He does have a multiplicity of characters and events, however. I look forward to another “The Dog.”

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories that explores the pettiness of human behavior while also examining worth, one's place in the universe and mortality.
Unfortunately, many of the stories felt incomplete, particularly so in 'The Trusted Traveler.'

[Annberniet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not feel that I connected with this book or its stories. They were, for me, interesting, varied, mildly thought provoking, and definitely well-written, but I cannot be more enthusiastic.

[Luna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I most liked the stories about the goose at the wedding, and the one about the co-op letter. Others were a little slow/lacking a punch I think. Worth a read though!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

During a recent trip to Ireland, as I was browsing in the wonderful Book Centre bookstore in Kilkenny, this book with a goose on the cover caught my eye, because it echoed the cover of one of my favorite books, Straight Man by Richard Russo. Then I saw it was by Joseph O'Neill, whose name I recognized from some recent short stories I'd enjoyed in the The New Yorker (having just finished one on the plane ride over). Even though I'd already brought a few books for the trip, I snapped up this one and devoured it over the next 9 days—short stories were perfect for the little bits of down time at all the hotels and Airbnbs. I even read again the three stories I'd already come across in the New Yorker.

Even though O'Neill is a New York–based writer, his writing voice sounded exactly like the Irish people I was meeting in my travels—contemporary, amused, garrulous, quizzical, philosophical, judgmental, literary—so it was the perfect book for the trip. The stories are mostly about 21st century people (men, spouses, writers) in their early middle age realizing things aren't going quite as planned. There are wry laughs, sober tears, nods of recognition, and moments of bafflement over how strangely people behave. These stories often ended with someone staring out a window or puzzling over things, and that's how they left me, too. Just my cup of tea!

(The U.S. cover is so different and never would have caught my eye. Yay for the goose.)

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very good book. The stories are a nice read and have good insights into general life of 'normal' people. It's not my normal choice of book but I'm glad I read it. It's not one that I think I will re-read but I have passed it on to friends to read.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a couple of O'Neill's books a few years back, Netherlands and The Dog still bang around my mind. Was excited to take on this collection and I enjoyed it.

The stories are simple and real, plunging into worlds and plugging into them instantly. What connected most for me were the dark and empty adult lives of the men. Stories like The Referees and The Death of Billy Joel were beautifully executed, cautionary stories of relationships too few or too far gone. I found myself seeing not just their lives in the moments of the stories, but the pathways from my life to theirs. To not take for granted the relationships you do have, simple things here and there can leave you in either of their shoes.

The Sinking of the Houston was another moving story - finding and appreciating the depth around us.

Outside of those, I did enjoy the collection. Wasn't running to read on, but happy when I did.

[Alia S · Rating 3 out of 5]

"As a clue," I say.  Because I don't want to appear odd, or unwell, I don't reveal that I'm spelling it "clew," as in the ball of yarn, as in the labyrinth. 

Vignettes on various tragedies of living, successfully both inventive and too-ooooo-real. I do slightly resent the billing as “stories” because none of these finish so much as end—certainly they don’t have to, but it’s cruel to pretend.

I also learned the word “tocsin” and some creepy facts about traditional circumcision. The more you know!

[Jeremiah Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC. Read some of these before in the New Yorker. The stories capture the ledge we are all balancing on.

[Bonnie Brody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Trouble is the first book of short stories by Joseph O'Neill that I've read. I read and loved Ghost Light, an earlier novel he wrote, and though I enjoyed Good Trouble, I did not find it as wonderful as Ghost Light.

I enjoyed individual stories and found several of them interesting, comical, and bordering on the surreal. 'The Trusted Traveler' had me laughing as a retired professor and his wife entertain one of the professor's former students every year despite the fact that the professor doesn't even remember him. 'The World of Cheese' had me smiling about the antics and misunderstandings that occur in families regularly. The stakes were a bit higher in this family but their dysfunction conjured up a majority of families I've known. In 'The Referees', Rob needs references to rent a condo in Brooklyn. He realizes that he is very limited in who he can ask and goes to desperate measures to try and secure two references. Tom Rourke is turning 40 and asks his friends to join him on a golfing trip to Florida. Only two agree to go with him, neither particularly close to Tom. Tom hears a clip on the radio about Billy Joel and, for some odd reason, believes he's died. 'Ponchos', one of my favorite stories, explores the essence of aloneness and loneliness. My all-time favorite story in the collection is 'The Poltroon Husband', A couple move into their 'last' house, the one that they will remain in forever. One night, the wife hears a noise in the middle of the night and her husband feels literally paralyzed and cannot get up to investigate. Neither of them bring the incident up again though the husband wonders for months if his wife holds his inertia against him. 'Goose' is about Robert, who travels to Italy to attend a wedding of his old Dartmouth friend. He expects to see many of his college buddies there but he is the only one in attendance. The morning after the wedding, he finds out that his dog's surgery back home went bad and that his dog is dead. Later on, during the after wedding party, Robert sees a goose and becomes obsessed with it. "He looks away from the goose but finds he cannot look at anything without thinking that it's all goose, that he is already buried, everything is burying ground out of which nothing can ever be unburied." 'The Sinking of the Houston' is about a 15 year old boy telling his father that he and his two friends were mugged on a subway. The mugger took the son's phone. The father gets caught up in anger about the mugging and wants to begin a stakeout to find the mugger. "Like every criminal, he has overlooked a detail. That kid he threatened and robbed? That kid is my son." Will dad get his revenge or leave things be?

All but two of O'Neill's stories held my interest but none of them will likely remain in my memory long-term. O'Neill is an excellent writer but I think his forte is the novel.

[Keith Currie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetitions and pensees - all good

A dozen or so short stories, each with a clever twist on mainly male, mainly American, mainly middle-aged foibles, self-obsession and failings. I found they resonated with me. I found them witty and thought-provoking. I found them a subtle counterpoint to much female focused fiction. I considered the stories as a plausible reveal of a generation of men.

Where do I start? The story entitled Referees where a divorced man in his forties struggles to find and persuade two friends/acquaintances to provide him with a character reference for a new apartment let; The World of Cheese in which a mother cannot understand her middle-aged son’s shifting of all blame for his own failings onto her, as well as his recently acquired passion for specific cheeses; The Death of Billy Joel, underlying the pointlessness of meeting up with friends from the past (as well as playing golf); The Poltroon Husband, where a couple suspect an intruder in their dwelling, but the husband declines to investigate, overcome by ‘a dreamlike inertness’, an ‘oneiric paralysis’, a ‘mental whiteout’; these are men who refuse to grow up, who employ words rather than actions, whose obsessions focus on the trivial – a sort of metaphor, I think, for modern western society, with its refusal to focus on what really matters.

Another delight is the author’s use of language, his employment of pseudo-intellectual contemporary jargon in the portrayal of his asinine and ultimately shallow characters.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Trouble offers eleven stories of 21st century life, and the “good troubles” recounted here are the concerns of people who are materially well off, educated and sophisticated contemporaries. They are described by a wise narrator full of clever wordplay, and making allowances for outsiders, like “… a retiree from a part of the country dominated by conservative norms — ‘Let’s be honest:’ [a character] says, ‘dominated by backward, borderline evil norms — that were simply not intellectually escapable by him, undeveloped as he was, like so many members of the American proletariat, in the realm of critical thinking.’”

What trouble? Generally, it’s either the stress of keeping up with other people in terms of status, or the haunting feelings of inadequacy in the realm of career advancement, parenting, popularity, fashion, fitness, youth, or attractiveness to others. And, of course, marriage to a partner with any of these inadequacies, and in particular, wives who are either too independent or too dependent on their husbands. With tongue in check, our narrator describes the variations of mustaches in 2010, and the frustration of the man who suffers from emotional distress when his mother neglects to take an interest in the world of cheese or the argument over whether her grandchild will be circumcised because his mother is Jewish, or not because his father is not.

[Nicole O · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a staunch reminder of why I tend to avoid short stories. I just could not get into this book at all. As interesting as the plot summary sounds for this collection, that's about as good as it gets when it comes to this book. The last story in the collection, "The Sinking of the Houston", ends just as it gets mildly intriguing, which is more than I can say for the rest of the book. I suppose Joseph O'Neill was trying to explore the internal musings of everyday people, as well as how these dialogues that humans have within themselves translate into the outside world, but he fell flat at every turn. The stories themselves were extremely pedantic; I kept looking for the underlying message or lesson, only to be disappointed. Every single story in the book left me thinking, "So......that's it?" If there's one redeeming quality about this book, it is that it's a quick read and won't waste too much of your time.

I received this ARC from Random House Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joseph O’Neill’s short stories in “Good Trouble” are quintessential “New Yorker stories,” as I call them: smart, slightly pretentious slice-of-life tales about well-off white folks that end in strangely abrupt ways, or exactly the kinds of stories that you’d find in The New Yorker magazine. That description makes it sound like I don’t like that kind of fiction and, by extension, I didn’t like “Good Trouble,” but that’s not true. Sure, it’s been done better (see: Curtis Sittenfeld, Thomas Pierce, T.C. Boyle, etc.) but O’Neill is a fine writer and these pieces often swerve off in unexpected directions. Above average, but not by a ton.

FAVORITES:
“The World Of Cheese” - An out-of-touch grandmother deals with the fallout of not attending her grandson’s bris.
“The Death Of Billy Joel” - A middle-aged man comes to terms with his middle-aged-ness while on a golfing trip with a few buddies.
“The Poltroon Husband” - A cowardly man tries to justify letting his wife investigate a mysterious noise in their home one night.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with all collections of stories, some of these were wonderful and others I had a harder time connecting to. I especially enjoyed The Death of Billy Joel, Goose, and The Sinking of the Houston.

The hardest part for me with most of the other stories was relating to the characters. O’Neill does a fantastic job of creating realistic characters with believable issues, but as I have never faced many of these issues or been at point in life to consider some of the topics characters did, I wasn’t able to connect. Maybe in a longer story I would have been able to feel more for the characters.

Overall, I feel like this is a strong collection of short stories that many adults in similar situations could enjoy. The writing style is phenomenal, and it was an enjoyable reading experience.

Thank you to Penguin First to Read for providing me an eARC in return for my honest opinion.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bulk of Joseph O'Neill's stories in "Good Trouble" deal with the fallout of middle-aged ennui and horizon-less marriages. Despite some overwrought takes, the author weaves in some subtle humor and man-of-the-world insights that resonate.

This collection of short stories featured some abrupt endings, some overly complicated prose, and some exceedingly short tales -- one ran to a page and a half and was dedicated to David Foster Wallace.

"The World of Cheese" and "Goose" are the standouts here, both giving O'Neill space to observe the balance between quiet desperation and the hope of something more and better. The collection ends on a high note, with "The Sinking of the Houston" serving as a potent commentary on hidden lives, enigmatic neighbors -- and anger management.

<3.5 stars>