People I Know

by Nancy Zafris

"The People I Know" is a collection of nine stories, told by characters who hover at the edge of life. Whether it's Lorne, perched on a sofa as a wedding party swirls around him, or the elderly Mrs. R of "Morning at the Beach," imagining a career in crime as she sits on the front porch of a Miami hotel, these are people oddly accustomed to the sidelines of their worlds. Nancy Zafris's characters do not so much hurdle their barriers as contemplate them with varying degrees of humor, regret, and fanciful expectation. Gazing out of his window at a horizon of crushed cars, Bonner Junior fantasizes about working at an I.M. Pei office building instead of at John Bonner and Son Metal Shredders; at the same time, his job allows him to amuse his friends with grisly, embellished stories of human shreddings and wild dogs. In "Meeting in Tokyo," a businessman examines his own attraction and aversion to conformity after taking a young secretary to a "love hotel." For Wendy, born with a strong nose and a Baltic name, cosmetic surgery has brought acceptance but also boredom. Suffering little "deaths of feeling" with each success, she flirts with disaster, with anything that will make her heartbeat "go up to 75 or more." Grace, in "Grace's Reply," prefers to deal with reality through illusion; she blames her son's death on a Navy intelligence operation and sends Pampers to an imaginary grandson. Ranging from the kiddie bleachers of television's "Uncle Sylvester Show" to the upholstered seats of a Tokyo coffee shop, from a Navy recruitment office to a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, these stories enliven the common places of our world. Sad, yet rarely defeated, Nancy Zafris's characters toe the line and sometimes manage to cross it.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[jillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

a major portion of zafris’s writing style revolves around fatphobia — dnf because of her poorly disguised vitriol and palpable disdain for people with larger bodies. the complexity of her characters earns this book two stars, though, as some of the stories were well-written and enjoyable (when they weren’t centered around laughing at bigger people).

[Lila Vogt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy Zafris, the series editor of The Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, and previous fiction editor for the Kenyan Review was in Anchorage in early April as a guest of 49 Writers. She taught a workshop, and did a Q&A along with Frank Soos, one of our hometeam Alaska short story writers, and a previous winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. I attended the Q&A and bought a copy of her 2009 published short story collection: The People I Know.

I'm a big fan of short stories. Some of my favorites, which are timeless, in my opinion, and which I never tire of re-reading include: Nabokov, Munro, Maugham, Maupassant, Wharton, O'Connor, Carver, Chekov, Cather, Asimov, Hemmingway, Faulkner, Bradbury, O.Henry, and Poe (to name the ones that come to mind). Frank and Nancy discussed the question of "is there a future for short stories?". Huh, there sure is in my reading life. They are an exquisite form of literature. Gemstones of brevity and depth polished to perfection.

The nine stories that make up Nancy's collection are about diverse people on the fringe of what we now refer to as neurotypical. Nancy has a deft hand in creating characters irregardless of age, gender or nationality. I was engaged with these stories in a way that made me eager each night to pick up and continue the read, even though many of the stories were about rather sad or broken people. Revealing dialogue and excellent character development. I would purchase and read another collection of short stories by Nancy Zafris.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of short stories that finds humor in surprisingly sad places. The characters quickly worm their way into your head and the stories give you enough of their lives to hold onto long after they end.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author's voice is sure and poignant, funny and wise. Fabulous stories by a gifted writer.

[Sara]

flannery o'connor award for short fiction

[Lucian Childs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing stories from a modern master. The diversity of characters is astounding. A must-read for anyone interested in the short story.