The Gnome Stories

by Ander Monson

An unsettling, wildly imaginative collection of stories

The Gnome Stories focuses on characters who are loners in the truest sense; who are in the process of recovering from mental, physical, or emotional trauma; and who find solace―or at least a sense of purpose―in peculiar jobs and pursuits.

A man whose wife has left him is robbed, so he decides to start doing his own breaking and entering, into his neighbors’ homes. When another man’s girlfriend is cryogenically frozen by her family after a car accident, he becomes a maintenance worker at the cryogenic facility, eavesdropping on visitors as they whisper secrets to their frozen loved ones. A woman serves as an assistant to the Starvationist, whose methods to help clients lose large amounts of weight are unorthodox, sadistic―and utterly failproof. Another woman and her robot assistant have been hired to tinker with the troubling memories inside a celebrity’s brain.

With The Gnome Stories, Ander Monson presents eleven unforgettable stories about oddly American as surreal as an urban legend and at the same time perfectly mundane.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Adult Fiction, Science Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 4, 2020

About the author

Ander Monson is the author of Vanishing Point; Neck Deep and Other Predicaments, winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize; the novel Other Electricities; and the poetry collections Vacationland and The Available World. He lives and teaches in Arizona and edits the magazine DIAGRAM.

Although Ander is a proud graduate of Knox College, he also received advanced degrees from Iowa State and the University of Alabama.

More info is available here.
http://poetry.arizona.edu/presenter-a...

Reviews

[Jennifer nyc · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I read this book, it made my body contract, rather than expand. I prefer to expand. A bit like the actor, Michael Shannon, the narrator of each story made me uncomfortable. But also like Michael Shannon, the author’s talent riveted me.

I often describe books as either cerebral or emotional. This book is physical. It’s very much about bodies and death and bodies and violence. But the ways of looking at these things are curious: cryonics, disturbing private behaviors – I often felt I was reading the thoughts of a serial killer. The narrator of each has the same voice (whether male or female), but unlike any I’ve heard elsewhere (maybe a whiff of Breece D’J Pancake? Although he was West Virginia, and these stories are pure Arizona: even when one takes place in the Midwest, the author can’t help but place an armadillo in its path). It’s a fragmented voice, disassociated from all people and things in its surroundings. That’s how everything he describes feels – like unreachable surroundings.

[luv4pez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ander Monson certainly has an imagination; The Gnome Stories have interesting concepts and characters (sometimes). Unfortunately, the toxic masculinity of the writing overtakes every story. Even when the narrator is female it’s obvious that it’s written by a man. I didn’t really even see the supposed plots of loners with peculiar hobbies. There were also some disturbing scenes which feel inauthentic.

My full review at My Splendid Mess.

[Bill Hsu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked Monson's earlier collection Other Electricities, but had a lot more trouble with this one. I liked the longer, more conventional narratives ok. Most of the shorter pieces worked more with language, and didn't do anything for me.

The last and longest story, "Our Song", is my favorite, with its thoughtful ruminations about the nature of memory, and the possibility of manipulating it. Wish I was more enthusiastic about the ending though.

[October Hill Magazine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review by Julia Romero (Book Reviewer and Proofreader, October Hill Magazine)
The Gnome Stories
Ander Monson's The Gnome Stories is a look into the darkness that subtly affects suburban life's underbelly. From sex to murder, The Gnome Stories covers it and then some. Monson combines first-person perspective, eerie tone, and stream-of-consciousness style, with a hint of science-fiction, to thoroughly explore the fragile, intricate, and perverse nature of the human psyche when forced through trauma.

Monson is the author of eight books, four non-fiction, two poetry collections, and two works of fiction. His most recent publications include I Will Take the Answer and The Gnome Stories, both published by Graywolf Press on February 4 of this year. Among his other achievements, Monson edits the literary magazine DIAGRAM and directs the MFA program at the University of Arizona.

Monson's long and fulfilling career has led him to this new work of fiction, which is a culmination of eleven short stories, many that first appeared in different forms in various publications. This collection of short stories follows eleven narrators attempting to make sense of their lives amid significant uprooting moments. In "Weep No More Over This Event," a recent divorce combined with a traumatic home invasion sends the narrator into a panic-induced spiral, which ends with his own descent into home invasions. "The Reassurances" follows a man who accepts a job at a facility filled with cryogenically frozen bodies, including his recently killed ex-girlfriend. The last story, "Our Song," explores the extent someone will go to keep lost love, even going so far as carelessly deciding to code a love song inside the traumatized memories of a famous songwriter....
(Read the full review in the October Hill Magazine Summer 2020 issue)

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only got to page 6 and skimmed some of the other chapters, but I hated how this was written. The concepts of the book could definitely be super interesting, when I read the summary of the book, it seemed really cool.

I know that everyone writes in their own way, and in at least the first chapter, the rambling way that it's written is likely due to the character, but it was incredibly difficult to get through. It's super random, and it feels like there's no actual purpose to it. Also the author doesn't use quotation marks when characters are speaking and that's a no from me.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monson’s gift, of which he has many, lay in his ability to construct unsettling worlds and populate them with human creatures who may or may not be ones with which you’d like to hang around. Their lives are ours … and they’re not. Add some splendid writing and these stories, while sometimes gothically grim, will resonate. Of particular note: “Our Song” and its fine-tuned SF edge threw me back to days reading Asimov and Ellison. Great stuff.

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting short stories but, as others have noted, I got the strong impression that the author does not know how to write women. The female characters often lacked depth and the men, while complex, weren't particularly likeable. I would be intrigued to read other works from this author as I did enjoy parts of his writing style but all round I was left disappointed by this collection.

[TheMadLep · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. Dreadful writing style, convoluted stories and an ugly outlook on life in general. Horrible.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

fave stories: In a Structure Simulating an Owl; The Golem and This Time With Feeling (Pynchony); Starvationist's Assistant; Our Song (Gibsonian)

[szymborskalyte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short story collection struck the same chord with me as other anthologies. I loved a couple of the stories; I found some enjoyable; and there were a couple I couldn't stand.

[Diana Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some individual stories may be a 4, but overall the collection was a 3 ⭐️ for me. Some good twists, unexpected narratives.

[Kathleen Newton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird, but enjoyably so.