Add This to the List of Things That You Are

by Chris Fink

A cat culler in an Arizona trailer park community mulls his daily routine. An old mercenary explains the history of edible eel in New Zealand. A divorcé plays homewrecker across Finland and Russia while his worldly possessions sit in a full self-storage unit. The dark and stunning stories in Add This to the List of Things That You Are explore how we sustain relationships when everything goes sideways and how we find meaning when the old patterns and structures of life give way. Many of Chris Fink's characters have outgrown their rural roots but still feel ill-equipped for the urbane scenarios in which they find themselves.

Many of the narratives center on the melancholic dislocations of Midwestern men—dislocations provoked by forces ranging from the unknown terrain of travel to emerging romantic relationships. Fink's gift for voice and keen observation of place display the male psyche against unfamiliar backgrounds in high relief. These quiet, often introspective stories pack an outsized punch.

224 pages, Hardcover

Published September 10, 2019

Reviews

[Carl Fuerst · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters in these stories fight hard to be ok; they want to be good people, and they want to do good for those around them. In many cases, this turns out to be a difficult proposition, often because the inescapable forces that determine their lives have no regard for what they "want." The results are sometimes hopeful, and sometimes bleak, but Fink writes with neither sentimentality nor cynicism. The most noble of these characters have recognizable, human; the meanest of them have streaks of integrity and worth. Fink's stories are deeply imbued with humanity--there are many moments where it's easy to believe that the places in these stories are real, that the characters in them exist beyond the story's pages. Overall, this is a very memorable, thought-provoking collection---the kind of writing that, after reading it, makes you feel more connected to the people around you and the world you live in.

[Christina Clancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Fink's writing is blunt and bold while also nuanced and sensitive. His characters in this absorbing collection struggle with feelings of displacement, whether they find themselves in unfamiliar situations and places, or wrestle with realizing they are out of step in a changing world. My personal favorite is "Cubness,"a short story that nails Midwestern anxiety about class, status and masculinity.