Another Perfect Catastrophe: and Other Stories

by Brad Barkley

In the spirit of Tobias Wolff and Richard Ford, these ten chilling, deeply felt stories from acclaimed author Brad Barkley explore the complexity of male friendships and marital relationships.

Among the stories is "The Way It's Lasted," in which Billy deals with his crumbling marriage and a visit from his father, who may or may not have cancer and who is desperate to see the reconstruction of Noah's Ark at a nearby church. "Beneath the Deep, Slow Motion" introduces us to Bosco and Ray, two drifters who scheme about murdering a neighbor and stealing his diamond collection so that they can afford to pay doctors to save Bosco from an untimely death. Nelson's mother, Myra, in "Mistletoe," has Lou Gehrig's disease, and he struggles with her request for help in killing herself before the disease does. The title story brings us to Reed, who feels reluctant to leave his childhood friend Sugar---who was crippled in a logging accident ten years ago---when Reed's much younger girlfriend, Lyndsey, pressures him to move on.

In these stories and others, Barkley's prose---and his ability to create a palpable sense of time and place and mood---bring his characters vividly to life. Through these honestly crafted and carefully executed tales of people who find themselves banging their heads against their reduced circumstances, Barkley restores our faith in human beings' ability to endure the ravages of time with decency and humor. With his touching and critically praised novel Alison's Automotive Repair Manual , Barkley established himself as a writer to watch, and in Another Perfect Catastrophe , he proves to be at the height of his powers. "Underline this writer as one whose work needs to be on your shelf. You will be much the better for it." --- Mississippi Clarion-Ledger

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Brad Barkley is the author of the novels Money, Love (Norton), and Alison's Automotive Repair Manual (St. Martin’s), two collections of short stories, and three YA novels with Penguin: Scrambled Eggs at Midnight , Dream Factory, and Jars of Glass. Brad has won numerous awards, including four Individual Artist Awards from the State of Maryland and a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His short fiction has appeared in nearly thirty magazines, including Southern Review, Georgia Review, the Oxford American, Glimmer Train, and the Virginia Quarterly Review, which twice awarded him the Emily Balch Prize for Best Fiction. His work was anthologized in New Stories from the South: The Year's Best. A native of North Carolina, he lives in Western Maryland with his wife Kristin and their dog, Millie Grace. When not working, he plays as a hang glider pilot and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Reviews

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the stories in this collection are about characters, usually men, who have shortchanged themselves in life. Most of them have fallen short of the societal ideal: they work menial, dead-end jobs, drink a lot, and pretty much waste their lives away. They have crumbling marriages, or marriages that have died. The men are fiercely loyal to their best men friends, so much so that one seems willing to sacrifice his relationship with his girlfriend, and another seems willing to commit murder to save his friend's life. These are frustrated and frustrating characters; as a reader I was frustrated with their inability to stop sabotaging their lives. Overall, they were great character studies and stories, with the exception of one, "St. Jimmy," which I hated with a passion. I had no idea what it was about and I hated wasting my time reading it. Other than that, my favorites were the title story, "The Way It's Lasted," "Mistletoe," and especially the final story, Beneath the Deep, Slow Motion."

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't believe Barkley isn't better known, if not as a novelist, then as a supreme short story writer in the vein of Carver and Tobias Wolff. These are well-crafted, moving, character-etched stories, all dealing with financial hardship, crumbling relationships, and death. His real talent is for blending comedy with tragedy, and as broken down and defeated as some of these characters are, they are all sympathetic. My favorite was "Beneath the Deep, Slow Motion" about two lonely, lost men, one of whom is dying of cancer and wants to rob a jeweler to pay for his treatment. The conclusion of this story is mind-blowing. Fantastic stories here.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it once and am reading it again. Some amazing writing.