The Big Impossible: Novellas + Stories

by Edward J. Delaney

"Easily ranks among the best fiction I've read this year.” —David Abrams “If you’ve come to look for America, it's here in The Big Impossible. Taut, urgent, emotionally powerful stories about the families, workers, and dreamers who are our neighbors, and Delaney’s range and sense of history make him the perfect writer to illuminate their lives.” —Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men The short fiction in Ted Delaney's new collection explores guilt and redemption, aspiration and failure, and the stubbornness of modest hopes. The usual mileposts are fading, and choice is in the context of institutions and assumptions that are no longer holding steady. In “Clean,” a man waits for inevitable justice to come, as much as it will play against him. In “House of Sully,” a working-class family navigates the tumultuous year that 1968 was, as new perceptions shake long-held and dependable, if sometimes misguided, beliefs. Other stories examine the inner life of a school shooter, the comical posturing of writers at a literary party, a British veteran of The Great War living at a Florida retirement home but haunted by his losses, and a man’s bittersweet visits to past lives via Google Street View. In the sequence set in the West, an itinerant worker moves across the Great Plains, navigating stark landscapes, trying for foothold. The Atlantic ’s C. Michael Curtis praised Ted Delaney’s debut collection for its “moral intensity . . . in the tradition of writers as varied as Ethan Canin and William Trevor.” Two decades later Delaney returns to the short fiction form with utter mastery.

Genres: Short Stories

240 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2019

Reviews

[An · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Big Impossible is an eclectic mix of stories and perspectives, from a bullied high school student who turns to extreme violence to a man who uses Google Street View to revisit his past lives. The book is divided into three sections: part one contains five short stories; part two, the novella "House of Sully"; and part three, "The Big Impossible." Standouts in the collection include "Clean," "My Name is Percy Atkins," and both novellas. I particularly enjoyed "House of Sully," which perfectly captures the zeitgeist of New England in the late 1960's, during the political turmoil following the Kennedy assassinations, the uncertainty of the Vietnam War, the nascent of the second feminist wave, and the changing demographics of urban neighborhoods. Edward J. Delaney has such a talent for writing that his stories more often than not come across as a natural dialogue between the narrator and the reader. Take for example this excerpt:

"I looked in a veined mirror and sized it all up: rough-cut hair, windburned red face, the T-shirt and the grimy jeans and beaten leather jacket. I wasn't young, but I wasn't too old to not think I could still change. That mattered: the point in your life where the old part is dead and fallen away, and the new part isn't anything yet. You just are. You look in that cracked glass and see a face that can't quite start all over, can't erase the invested years, can't bargain for many more..."

In just a few sentences, Delaney's prose skillfully conveys the emotional nuances of trying to start over and find oneself. The way his stories speak to the human condition lend Delaney's works a precious verisimilitude. Overall, I found The Big Impossible to be a profound and powerful collection of novellas and short stories. Many thanks to Turtle Point Press for sending a finished copy of the book for my honest review.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of stories from Edward J. Delaney. There are five short stories and two novellas, all of them engrossing. My favorite was the novella "House of Sully" which felt very familiar to me. I am three years younger than the protagonist, and remembered the events that Delaney touched on very clearly. One thing puzzles me; he makes reference to a "wept" nail. I have consulted five online dictionaries and my enormous, unabridged Mirriam-Webster, and can find nothing that could possibly apply to a nail. All of the stories in this volume are memorable and well-written; each of them are worth the reader's time.  I received the book from Library Thing.  I had requested it back in November as an early reviewer, and was very surprised and excited to receive it.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good selection of short stories. I liked Part 2 The House of Sully the best. Over all not a bad read.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of well written short stories, since they fit the mold of "write less, say more." And these did not disappoint. A new author for me.

[Camille Platt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was not expecting to love these stories as much as I did. Extremely genuine; never any instance where the content felt forced to me, or written as a drama factor. Awesome collection!

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an impromptu grab of the new and noteworthy table at the West Hollywood pubic library. I paid zero attention when I grabbed it, other than to the cover art which I found intriguing. I was beyond disappointed when I got home and cracked it open to find that it was short stories. I absolutely abhor short-from writing and nearly put it right down. Fortunately, it was the only book I had with me so I read on.

Y'all, I loved this book. The character development was fantastic, especially given the length. Each and every story was intriguing and unique and genuine.

This is a must read.

[Richard Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delaney's stories are about the aftermath of mistakes made and wrong roads taken rendered with brutal honesty. The prose in spare, the mood unsparing.

The stories are mostly about men, men who question, men uncomfortable or just barely accepting of their present and conflicted about their pasts. Authenticity is the overriding theme. Delaney knows how to write. Skillfully crafted, his sentences tell us little truths, no less profound and invariably thought provoking. The Big Impossible is filled with short stories that will make you take a long look at...life.

[Csimplot Simplot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!!!