Crisp

by R.W. Gray

Crisp confronts the unspeakable parts of memory, meditating on characters caught in isolation and struggling to make sense of grief, disappointment, and the occasional dinner party gone wrong. Along the way, these characters don't always make sound a grieving widow pursues a priest, an unhappy wife whittles her husband to bits, and a melancholy man has a one-night stand with a whale trainer. In his debut short story collection, R.W. Gray deftly uncovers human reactions to loneliness and unrest through tales about relationships, secrets, and a longing to connect.

These are exuberant cinematic tales of trailers and kitchen sinks and killer whales, a startling mix of wild currents and landlocked inner lives that are playful and scary. The title story Crisp is weirdly enchanting; it has real verve and swing. Mark Jarman

A luminous debut collection, Crisp moves like an underwater ballet, delicate and taut. Inhabited by damaged and dangerous characters. R.W. Gray's masterful storytelling will haunt you. Eden Robinson

In Crisp, R.W. Gray illuminates some very dark places with glittering prose. In one story, he writes of "concise explosions"...an apt descriptor of the collection, of the combined effect of Gray's marvelous precision with words, and of the intensity of emotion that roils and steadily amplifies beneath. Crisp is an unnerving and exhilarating read. Kate Sutherland

Genres: Short Stories

157 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

R. W. Gray’s poetry and prose have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. His first collection of short stories, Crisp, was published by NeWest Press. An award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter, he has had over ten short films produced. He lives in Fredericton, where he is a professor of film and screenwriting in the English Department at the University of New Brunswick.

Reviews

[Scott Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Gray has crafted an exceptional anthology in "Crisp", a collection whose stories strike a balance between tightly focused slice-of-life tales and more complex narratives pushing into a magical-realist fabulism anchored in the grey skies and deadly ennui of the working-class Canadian west. In some of the other reviews of the book that i've read, people have expressed a preference for one side of that narrative balance or the other — but for me, the point of the book was the juxtaposition between those two forms, both of which Gray handles with an infuriating verbal dexterity.

It's always too easy (and often dangerously pedantic) to make arbitrary comparisons from one author to another. But as i was reading "Crisp", i was pleasantly overwhelmed by how much the book felt like some of my own favorite writers. Rob Gray captures the poetic qualities in Michael Ondaatje, the sense of disturbed wonder in Jorge Luis Borges, the grating edge of the flipping-god-the-finger rage in Harlan Ellison — but not in the sense that "Crisp" simply apes the style of those or any other writers, because Gray's voice is wholly original in these pages. Rather, "Crisp" displays the remarkable talent for turning the mundane world inside out in the same way those writers have always done for me — creating stories that are poetic, enigmatic, and searingly memorable all at once.

My two favorite pieces in the collection are the title story — a stunning magic-realist reflection on innocence, loss, and the way that parents inevitably fail to armor their children to face the world for themselves; and my favorite story, "Thirst" — a manifold personal, environmental, and psychosexual apocalypse tale told (as is "Crisp") from the perspective of the dying days of childhood. Both stories manage to be terrifying, heartbreaking, and life-affirming at the same time, and though i accept that everyone's taste is different, i can't think of any higher praise for fiction.

The only story that i felt the collection could have done without was "Sweet Tooth" — not because it's a poor tale (it's actually a very poignant, darkly funny episode of domestic strife, loss, and emotional ambition), but because of all the stories in the collection, it felt more confessional than evocative. Gray's ability to weave the evocation of emotion into his stories is formidable, and i am so looking forward to his next works.

[Mark Walma · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot to love in this collection of short stories. Rob Gray writes lyrical prose of stunning beauty and creates images that are both original and unforgettable. The collection starts strong with "the bends" and reaches its zenith at about its midpoint, with the postcard story "flamenco", followed by "wabi sabi" and "seeds". My favourite, "wabi sabi", contains such memorable descriptions as "her husband was a mean man, gristle and bone with lost razors in the sock drawer and unforgiving edges." What does it mean? I'm not sure but it paints an unforgettable picture. And the story is a beautifully wrought tale of a difficult relationship, of jealousy and sacrifice, of passion and tragedy. If only all the stories in this collection were as strong. found the last two stories completely impenetrable and actually stopped reading each one in turn.

[Mark Libin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories of RW Gray's Crisp are both delicately and precisely written with a melancholy undertone that leaves the reader feeling nostalgic for a world of lost love and childhood memories. Yet it is the writing itself that beguiles -- almost every sentence opens out into an origami of subtle phrasing and beautifully rendered metaphor. There is much humous too in the comic circumstances of the human condition. Crisp is a first-rate collection from this talented, assured writer.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out as a difficult read. Hard to follow the short stories. Further into the book, my curiousity peaked. It became more interesting to figure out the meaning behind the stories. I plan to go back and re-read a few chapters. This would be a good book to sit and read one short story at a time and discuss at a book club meeting to hear different interpretations.

[Connie]

I am setting this book down, I just finished the story "Crisp" and it has made me nauseous, can't go any further right now. This is definitely not what I was expecting.

[Becky Skillin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a poetic collection of short stories that convey unfinished, raw emotions left in the wake of trauma and neglect. Like Edgar Allan Poe's works, the mood is despairing. The style is rather free-flowing, and not my preference, but it does accurately convey the depths to which humans can sink when in pain of all kinds.

In my quest to read Canadian authors, I picked this up just after Bruce Graham's "Duddy Doesn't Live Here Anymore." A laugh at life's heartache when good-natured people fall and hurt, but try to rally with who and what they are. It's a demonstration of resilience and forgiveness.

Both authors tell of woe and economic depression, but Grey shows the hollow left when the community has disintegrated and shattered, slicing the humans with the shrapnel-like effects. Perhaps everyone doesn't die, but the ache persists.

[M.A. Demers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gray at his best when he strays into the fantastical.

Crisp is the first collection of Gray's short stories that I've read, and I have to say he's a very talented wordsmith. Gray possesses an excellent command of language: his interesting choice of words, surprising metaphors, and style were a constant treat. Much of his prose is very poetic, reminding me of my favourite writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Gray also reminds me of another writer, Kafka, when Gray strays into the fantastical as he does in the title story. In fact, in my opinion this is where Gray is at his strongest: the title story is just so wonderfully bizarre, as is 'Wabi Sabi.' These stories are also Kafkaesque in their bleak outlook, but the fantasy element is just so delicious that you forget how bleak the story is. And both are worth the price of admission alone.

Gray doesn't maintain this approach throughout the collection, which is unfortunate because I so wanted more of that. And while I still enjoyed many of the 'slice of life' vignettes, one or two of them failed to capture my imagination. But throughout the collection is still that wonderful command of language, that interesting turn of phrase, and that alone is worth taking a look at this writer.

P.S. Just wanted to add that the book has been nominated for the 2010 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, presented by the Writers' Union of Canada. Congrats to Gray.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Crisp, no one questions how it is a woman can continually whittle a man into something new, how a fire can never be extinguished, why a trailer should suddenly up and slowly (oh so slowly) roll to the ocean and no one thinks to stop it. Beyond this, Crisp is a revelatory collection, delicate in execution and brutal in impact. Gray has a light touch, almost invisible, and his stories dance across the page even as they leave indelible impressions in the mind. Like the best short story writers, Gray understands the importance of being concise, of never wasting a word. His characters are all yearning for something, something beyond their control; love, or stability, or silence, or sanity.

Read the rest of the review here.