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Apparition & Late Fictions: A Novella and Stories
A Methodist minister gone astray, a trout bum gone fishing with his father's ashes, an artist overwhelmed by embodied beauty-these are among the uncommon heroes and exquisite narratives in this first collection of stories by the American poet and essayist, Thomas Lynch. Set in Michigan's north woods, Ohio's interior, on islands, in casinos and distant cities, these fictions are linked by the gone and not forgotten: former spouses, dead parents, and missing children. In pursuit of love and its redemptions, Lynch's characters are haunted by memory, dogged by desire, made radiant by romance and its denouements.
With the elegant prose known to the readers of his earlier work, Lynch masterfully creates a world where mirage and apparition are commonplace, where people searching for safe harbour, reconnection and old comforts find them both near at hand and oddly out of reach.
With the elegant prose known to the readers of his earlier work, Lynch masterfully creates a world where mirage and apparition are commonplace, where people searching for safe harbour, reconnection and old comforts find them both near at hand and oddly out of reach.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
5 people are currently reading
223 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Lynch
73 books162 followersThomas Lynch has authored five collections of poetry, one of stories, and four books of essays, including National Book Award Finalist The Undertaking. He works as a funeral director in Milford, Michigan, and teaches at the Bear River Writer’s Conference.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
September 14, 2023
I sometimes think that there is always something in Lynch's writing life that is leading him to fiction, even if he will always be a poet in my mind. This is his first book of fiction, and I loved it. Here's a little thing I wrote about it for the local paper:
We’ve been lucky in Ann Arbor to have had a front-row seat as Thomas Lynch has developed his writing career over the last thirty years. Lynch, of course, is the undertaker from Milford who has created a unique place for himself in the world of letters–in this country, in Britain, and in Ireland. Certainly the combination of his two occupations has contributed to the attention he has received: a recent PBS Frontline focused on Lynch and his family business, and an even more elaborate film version about his work was produced by the BBC and had an American debut at last year’s Traverse City Film Festival. Lynch himself will joke that he is “the go-to guy for death.”
But none of this would have happened if Lynch did not have a particular vision, and if he had not done the work to find a strong voice to communicate that vision. First in his poetry and then in his award-winning essays, Lynch positioned himself as an intimate observer of our fragile relationship with our own mortality. More than most writers, he has watched people deal with grief and find ways to continue on in the face of it. He has seen the tentative possibilities of joy that arise even from what might seem overwhelming loss. He wrote about it stylishly, with humor and compassion. But over the years, his relationship with his subject has deepened, and he has looked into other themes–family history is one, place another–and even politics has crept into his work. And now Lynch has begun to write fiction.
Apparition & Late Fiction is a collection of four longish stories and a novella. The first story begins in a situation we can recognize from Lynch’s work–“The thermos bottle with his father’s ashes in it rested on the front seat of the drift boat.” A fishing guide in northern Michigan prepares to scatter his father’s ashes, although elemental concerns end up changing the easy solutions. The next story has an undertaker as protagonist and movingly recapitulates subjects readers will recognize from Lynch’s essays. The one after that follows a retired casket salesman who walks the trails around Mullett Lake while remembering a spiritual journey. And Lynch has a fascinating story modeled on Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, where a vacationing U-M professor becomes obsessed about the beauty of a young employee of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. That story has an unfashionably slow-moving interior voice, reflecting on the nature of beauty and how it can dominate our lives until, at the end, “the heart bears its unspeakable cargo to lay it down at the feet of beauty.”
Most of the last half of the book is devoted to Apparition, a novella about a wildly successful self-help writer whose own divorce provided the occasion for his book Good Riddance–Divorcing for Keeps. Despite the fame and fortune the book provides, Adrian Littlefield seems to have nurtured his own kind of obsession for the woman who left him, a woman he never should have married. He moves through the world looking for images of her in the moments of her infidelities. She becomes a ghost, an apparition he can never quite see or understand.
https://annarborobserver.com/articles...
We’ve been lucky in Ann Arbor to have had a front-row seat as Thomas Lynch has developed his writing career over the last thirty years. Lynch, of course, is the undertaker from Milford who has created a unique place for himself in the world of letters–in this country, in Britain, and in Ireland. Certainly the combination of his two occupations has contributed to the attention he has received: a recent PBS Frontline focused on Lynch and his family business, and an even more elaborate film version about his work was produced by the BBC and had an American debut at last year’s Traverse City Film Festival. Lynch himself will joke that he is “the go-to guy for death.”
But none of this would have happened if Lynch did not have a particular vision, and if he had not done the work to find a strong voice to communicate that vision. First in his poetry and then in his award-winning essays, Lynch positioned himself as an intimate observer of our fragile relationship with our own mortality. More than most writers, he has watched people deal with grief and find ways to continue on in the face of it. He has seen the tentative possibilities of joy that arise even from what might seem overwhelming loss. He wrote about it stylishly, with humor and compassion. But over the years, his relationship with his subject has deepened, and he has looked into other themes–family history is one, place another–and even politics has crept into his work. And now Lynch has begun to write fiction.
Apparition & Late Fiction is a collection of four longish stories and a novella. The first story begins in a situation we can recognize from Lynch’s work–“The thermos bottle with his father’s ashes in it rested on the front seat of the drift boat.” A fishing guide in northern Michigan prepares to scatter his father’s ashes, although elemental concerns end up changing the easy solutions. The next story has an undertaker as protagonist and movingly recapitulates subjects readers will recognize from Lynch’s essays. The one after that follows a retired casket salesman who walks the trails around Mullett Lake while remembering a spiritual journey. And Lynch has a fascinating story modeled on Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, where a vacationing U-M professor becomes obsessed about the beauty of a young employee of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. That story has an unfashionably slow-moving interior voice, reflecting on the nature of beauty and how it can dominate our lives until, at the end, “the heart bears its unspeakable cargo to lay it down at the feet of beauty.”
Most of the last half of the book is devoted to Apparition, a novella about a wildly successful self-help writer whose own divorce provided the occasion for his book Good Riddance–Divorcing for Keeps. Despite the fame and fortune the book provides, Adrian Littlefield seems to have nurtured his own kind of obsession for the woman who left him, a woman he never should have married. He moves through the world looking for images of her in the moments of her infidelities. She becomes a ghost, an apparition he can never quite see or understand.
https://annarborobserver.com/articles...
March 29, 2010
Thomas Lynch has been known for a long time as an eloquent essayist. His book, "The Undertaking" is a breathtaking look at life, death and loss. In it he movingly relates the obligation to the dead for the sake of the living. Lynch is a mortician, an unlikely occupation for a natural born author. He is not the stereotypical undertaker out to sell the bereaved his most expensive model casket during the time of their loss. He is a poet. And, he has written magnificently on being an Irish-American. Equally captivating are his short stories. Although "Bloodsport" was a 2001 mystery short story of the year several years back, I had not had the opportunity to read any of Lynch's fiction until he gathered his stories in this anthology. This is not a light-weight read. If you are looking for fluff you will not find it here. Lynch's characters do not lead easy lives. Things have a way of happening to them that they do not expect. And the things that happen are generally for the worse. It is how Lynch's characters respond to life's misfortunes that form the core of his stories. As all people, some respond better than others. The central them in all of the stories is wanting to belong to someone or something. Isolation is a recurring situation Lynch's characters find make for a lonely life. Each of them might find themselves strolling along with J. Alfred Prufrock, wondering whether they should wear their trousers rolled and whether they dared to eat a peach. Lynch can write with a gentleness that lulls the reader into a denoument that lands a punch deep into the gut. It is safe to think that none of Lynch's characters had lives that turned out as they expected.
February 21, 2010
There are some truly beautiful moments in each story in Apparition & Late Fictions, the kind you want to copy out and carry around with you because they are so gorgeously written, even out of context, but the stories themselves didn't quite do it for me. Even though they're not related, they all kind of run together with the same setting, same sentiment, almost the same single narrator in each one brooding on their aloneness (not that this isn't warrented, this is a book that is all about the aftermath of death). This is still a relaxing a beautiful read, but the stories will be much more appreciated if they are spaced out and not read all at once.
September 11, 2025
Part of my quest to read everything this man has written
March 25, 2017
The first three stories in this collection were not for me--they all focus on life in the more rural areas of Michigan, with heavy emphasis on fishing, hunting, and so forth. It's not that they weren't good, but they just weren't something I would normally read, and they didn't break out of their Michigan-outdoorsy world to particularly catch my interest. However, the two last stories/novellas, "Matinee de Septembre" at 47 pages, and Apparition at 89 pages, appealed to me. They broke beyond outdoorsy genre fiction to literary pieces that were both interesting and moving.
Taken all together, this book makes sort of a strange kettle of fish, but there might be readers out there who would enjoy both parts equally.
Taken all together, this book makes sort of a strange kettle of fish, but there might be readers out there who would enjoy both parts equally.
August 7, 2017
There are points and sections of writing that create some beautiful images and can be inspiring. However, I wasn't enthralled in most of the stories, hence taking 8 months to read through it.
His writing style, in this collection at least, is very male centric, even the one short written from the point of view of a woman is very sex focused in a way that doesn't rally fit and it's easy to tell it was written by a man. At times, it can be uncomfortable to read and rather objectifying towards women, and sometimes I would wonder I'd certain passages were needed.
While he has some good moments, it's not a book I'd pick up to read again.
His writing style, in this collection at least, is very male centric, even the one short written from the point of view of a woman is very sex focused in a way that doesn't rally fit and it's easy to tell it was written by a man. At times, it can be uncomfortable to read and rather objectifying towards women, and sometimes I would wonder I'd certain passages were needed.
While he has some good moments, it's not a book I'd pick up to read again.
May 23, 2019
Skip the first three stories and go straight to the last two, great stories set on Mackinac Island, Michigan, and Block Island, Rhode Island, respectively.
From a woman of the 'Greatest Generation' who spent World War II apart from her husband:
'The young these days are so unhappy, so impatient, so full of expectations. All we wanted to was to survive it. To be together. To get through, Bob and me, you know, and for the children ... Nowadays they just want too much. Whatever they have, they think there must be more. They want so much they don't know what they want."
From a woman of the 'Greatest Generation' who spent World War II apart from her husband:
'The young these days are so unhappy, so impatient, so full of expectations. All we wanted to was to survive it. To be together. To get through, Bob and me, you know, and for the children ... Nowadays they just want too much. Whatever they have, they think there must be more. They want so much they don't know what they want."
August 9, 2017
I enjoyed this book, thought the stories were well written. I live in Michigan, so all of the settings were familiar to me, which made the book that much more enjoyable.
December 30, 2019
The author is a mortician. So...stories about life and death. Lots of wisdom and feelings.
August 31, 2020
Thomas Lynch has a lovely way with words. Almost poetic. I just wasn’t fond of his topics. Simply not to my liking but he is definitely a gifted writer.
November 16, 2020
A very enjoyable read.
January 21, 2021
Great writing from a Michigan author!
August 16, 2023
Surprisingly good book. Short read, but they went into some great stories about loss
April 23, 2024
One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read. Poetic prose in the same vein as Capote.
October 13, 2010
Only Willing To Catch
Apparition & Late Fictions: A Novella and Stories by Thomas Lynch. Published by W.W. Norton & Company, 2010.
Thomas Lynch’s collection of short stories in his book Apparition and Late Fictions are examples of Lynch’s continuous theme of life and death. Along with his knowledge of being a mortician comes the character development that can be found in a full length novel. Lynch creates a new world in each story with its own situations and sentiments and yet the reader can relate to the characters’ feelings towards the one they have lost.
Lynch’s use of sensory details also helps the reader envision the scenery throughout the pieces. Whether the piece takes place in a local river where a fisherman mourns the loss of his father or in an airplane where a middle aged woman remembers her late husband. Lynch is able to keep the reader’s interest by using language that is appropriate for each story and by using the setting as a way to bring together the whole aspect of how life and death relate to each other.
“The thermos bottle with his father’s ashes in it rested on the front seat of the drift boat” (Lynch 15).Catch and Release” is a story detailing the history of its main character Danny. In the story, Danny has taken his father’s ashes to the river to go fishing. Whether the reader is aware of terminology used in fishing or not, it does not distract the reader that much from the use of rich language present throughout the piece. Lynch describes the river through Danny’s perception which makes it easy for the reader to understand his relationship with the river and his father: “He loved the snug hold of the river on his boat, the determination of its current, the certain direction, the quiet” (17). The way that Lynch personifies something that was never alive compared to the ashes of a man who was very much alive is something the reader can appreciate throughout the rest of the book, not just the story.
Lynch then continues his character development in the characters in the stories “Bloodsport” and “Hunter’s Moon”. The helplessness in the characters is what makes the stories believable, relatable, and interesting for the reader. One can feel sympathisize for the father in “Hunter’s Moon”, Harold Keehn. Harold looks back at his life and thinks about the decisions he made early in his life and the relationship he had with his daughter. This situation is something that most people can relate to.
The continuous wit of Lynch’s writing style is what saves the pieces from being boring because these stories all deal with death and some readers may need a mental break. Lynch embeds his experiences with death in each story, giving the stories more personality. For example, in “Bloodsport” there is a mortician who takes care of a father and many years later a young girl with whom he knew briefly. The character of Martin is more believable because of Lynch himself. Lynch seems to explore gothic, sentimental, and almost mathematical themes to each story. Overall, the book was easy to read and the language was rich.
March 24, 2014
Thomas Lynch, until now most famous for his award-winning The Undertaking, a study of the art of the funerary trade, tries his hand at fiction and mostly succeeds. Each of the four short stories and the novella in this collection deal with grief and loss, sometimes due to death, sometimes to the dissolution of a relationship.
"Catch and Release" focuses on a fishing guide grieving the death of his father who taught him how to fish on the same waters on which he now plies his trade. "Bloodsport" is told in flashback by an undertaker who cannot shake his memories of one client's life and death. Clearly the research Lynch did for The Undertaking informs this story most of all. "Hunter's Moon" tells the tale of a retired casket salesman who has buried two wives and had another leave him. He reminisces on his life, his marriages, his struggles with alcohol and his place in the world. "Matinee de Septembre" is the most page-turning among the stories, the story of a professor and poet who decides to vacation on Michigan's Mackinac Island shortly before the Fall semester begins at her university. While there she becomes entranced, perhaps obsessed, by a vision of beauty so overwhelming she risks everything in pursuit of it. The novella, "Apparition", mixes the pathos of the breakup of a minister's marriage with the humorous advice and assistance of a Catholic priest. Moving back and forth in time, it investigates the origins of infidelity in the marriage and discovers that while saving grace might be available from sources less than divine, the price paid can result in the complete transformation of a man's spiritual life.
Well written, poetic and striking a tone that feels right, Lynch's first foray into fiction is recommended for fans of short fiction and stories of loss and grief.
"Catch and Release" focuses on a fishing guide grieving the death of his father who taught him how to fish on the same waters on which he now plies his trade. "Bloodsport" is told in flashback by an undertaker who cannot shake his memories of one client's life and death. Clearly the research Lynch did for The Undertaking informs this story most of all. "Hunter's Moon" tells the tale of a retired casket salesman who has buried two wives and had another leave him. He reminisces on his life, his marriages, his struggles with alcohol and his place in the world. "Matinee de Septembre" is the most page-turning among the stories, the story of a professor and poet who decides to vacation on Michigan's Mackinac Island shortly before the Fall semester begins at her university. While there she becomes entranced, perhaps obsessed, by a vision of beauty so overwhelming she risks everything in pursuit of it. The novella, "Apparition", mixes the pathos of the breakup of a minister's marriage with the humorous advice and assistance of a Catholic priest. Moving back and forth in time, it investigates the origins of infidelity in the marriage and discovers that while saving grace might be available from sources less than divine, the price paid can result in the complete transformation of a man's spiritual life.
Well written, poetic and striking a tone that feels right, Lynch's first foray into fiction is recommended for fans of short fiction and stories of loss and grief.
February 16, 2017
A good writer. All of the stories are good. The novella, “Apparition”, is terrific. Well, this paragraph is:
“He had long since lost hope of a woman who could love him like a wife would and love his children like a mother. That mixture of passion and sacrifice seemed quite impossible to him now. Not because such women did not exist, but because he lacked what it was they wanted.”
“He had long since lost hope of a woman who could love him like a wife would and love his children like a mother. That mixture of passion and sacrifice seemed quite impossible to him now. Not because such women did not exist, but because he lacked what it was they wanted.”
April 18, 2016
Death-haunted. The first story, "Catch and Release", is an ash-scattering piece with some fishing-with-dad nostalgia thrown in (they used to fish using "spoons"). One son mixes ashes with acrylics and paints portraits of the father. Another buried them next to the grave of the father's first wife. A daughter had some in a locket. The main character drops some into the river ("like a cloud of milt") and ends up mixing them with water and eating the paste with a spoon. Earlier, "He grinned at the prospect that 'just adding water' might bring his father back". What did he learn from his father? -
"'Love 'em and leave 'em' is what his father used to say, and it was true. No dinner of salmon or steelhead, and they'd had plenty, ever made him feel as full as the utter mastery involved with returning the captive to its freedom, the genuine pleasure of letting it go" (p.29)
In "Bloodsport" the main character's an embalmer. A man shot a fawn from the door of his trailer. Later he shot his departing from from the door as she was leaving him, shot her in the leg ("the way you do with any wild thing ... You hobble it first") then the chest.
"Hunter's Moon" is fine. The protagonist is a widower, a seller of caskets, a scatterer of ashes.
The last 2 stories involve writers. I wasn't convinced by the plot or characterisation of "Matinée de Septembre". The novella, "Apparition" felt long. I liked some of the more episodic passages but again, the plot and character development didn't impress me.
"'Love 'em and leave 'em' is what his father used to say, and it was true. No dinner of salmon or steelhead, and they'd had plenty, ever made him feel as full as the utter mastery involved with returning the captive to its freedom, the genuine pleasure of letting it go" (p.29)
In "Bloodsport" the main character's an embalmer. A man shot a fawn from the door of his trailer. Later he shot his departing from from the door as she was leaving him, shot her in the leg ("the way you do with any wild thing ... You hobble it first") then the chest.
"Hunter's Moon" is fine. The protagonist is a widower, a seller of caskets, a scatterer of ashes.
The last 2 stories involve writers. I wasn't convinced by the plot or characterisation of "Matinée de Septembre". The novella, "Apparition" felt long. I liked some of the more episodic passages but again, the plot and character development didn't impress me.
August 21, 2013
This strong story collection draws on Lynch’s career as an undertaker, during which he has often had to embalm and bury victims of violent crime. Don’t miss “Matinée de Septembre,” a clever reimagining of
Death in Venice
set during the financial crisis, and “Bloodsport,” which links hunting and homicide in an eerie tale that was chosen for
The Best American Mystery Stories 2001
. “Apparition” (the novella, though it would have been better at short story length), which tells of a Methodist pastor’s fall from grace and subsequent championing of divorce, reminded me of Richard Russo and Anne Tyler. And in “Catch and Release,” Danny, a trout bum, takes his preacher father’s ashes (in a Thermos) out on a fishing expedition and must decide where to scatter them. The story ends with one of the most striking lines I’ve ever encountered in fiction – but I won’t spoil the surprise.
November 25, 2020
To expand on the sub-title, specifically four short-stories and a novella.
Overall, Lynch is a masterful writer. His prose is beautifully constructed. I found the first three short stories most engaging. That they focused on men from Michigan in mid-life probably had something to do with it. That's pretty much where I'm at in life as well. The fourth story I found to be a seed of a good idea, but literally left the heroine up a tree. The novella I found somewhat pointless. It was a story of a pastor who left the clergy after his wife left him and he serendipitously became a best-selling author. The story is told for the most part in first person flashback, after the narrator has achieved a great deal of worldly success as an author. I found parts of the novella to be promising: details of how the man deals with the literary life, the realities of being a small-town pastor, dealing with his wife's departure, his friendship with the local catholic priest. But the parts weren't stitched together that well.
So three pretty good short stories, one not-so-good short story and one not-so-good novella. Hence, three stars.
Overall, Lynch is a masterful writer. His prose is beautifully constructed. I found the first three short stories most engaging. That they focused on men from Michigan in mid-life probably had something to do with it. That's pretty much where I'm at in life as well. The fourth story I found to be a seed of a good idea, but literally left the heroine up a tree. The novella I found somewhat pointless. It was a story of a pastor who left the clergy after his wife left him and he serendipitously became a best-selling author. The story is told for the most part in first person flashback, after the narrator has achieved a great deal of worldly success as an author. I found parts of the novella to be promising: details of how the man deals with the literary life, the realities of being a small-town pastor, dealing with his wife's departure, his friendship with the local catholic priest. But the parts weren't stitched together that well.
So three pretty good short stories, one not-so-good short story and one not-so-good novella. Hence, three stars.
September 12, 2011
Nobody can deny the craftsmanship and lyric beauty of the writing, or the depth of themes explored--loss, grief, love in all its manifestations. I love Lynch's essays and poems unreservedly. As a fiction writer, however, he's uneven.
While Lynch is surefooted, deft and compelling when writing from the masculine perspective, the single story in this collection written from a woman's point of view was, frankly, mediocre. It's as if Lynch has trouble understanding women. They're either runaway wives, sweet young things married to geezers--or women who spend way too much time absorbed in their careers, wardrobes and self-indulgence. The most appealing woman in the book provides sex, then disappears.
The old saw "write about what you know" seems to apply, in spades to Thomas Lynch. When writing about the majesty and ordinariness of death, or constructing exquisite poems, he's unparalleled. Before he writes more short stories, he should read more female-authored fiction, however.
While Lynch is surefooted, deft and compelling when writing from the masculine perspective, the single story in this collection written from a woman's point of view was, frankly, mediocre. It's as if Lynch has trouble understanding women. They're either runaway wives, sweet young things married to geezers--or women who spend way too much time absorbed in their careers, wardrobes and self-indulgence. The most appealing woman in the book provides sex, then disappears.
The old saw "write about what you know" seems to apply, in spades to Thomas Lynch. When writing about the majesty and ordinariness of death, or constructing exquisite poems, he's unparalleled. Before he writes more short stories, he should read more female-authored fiction, however.
February 9, 2012
This is a collection of short stories which are very well told. "Catch and Release" reminds me of "A River Runs Through It," the story of a pastor and his children, with a fondness for fishing. "Bloodsport" is of the genre of "No Country for Old Men." "Hunters Moon" is the tragic story of a successful casket salesman and his personal losses.. "Matinee de Septembre" chronicles the decline of a successful poet and professor who becomes overcome by obsession. "Apparition" recounts the business success of an associate pastor who becomes an acclaimed speaker but is unable to form sustained emotional attachments to women. Four of the five stories concern the inability of successful people to achieve happiness in their personal lives. Perhaps Lynch observed that people who pursued their careers with abandon neglect their personal lives.
June 4, 2019
A collection of leisurely, thoughtful, introspective stories, all set in Michigan or nearby states and featuring characters haunted, in one way or another, by the aftermath of a death. Literal deaths in most cases; in Apparition, the death of a marriage, and of the hopes and possibilities and forms of self-regard tied to that relationship.
Several of the protagonists and plots are recognizably inspired by Lynch's own profession, and these are (it seemed to me) the most genuine and affecting. As at least one other Goodreads reviewer has noted, the female characters in Matinee de Septembre and Apparition seem a little less convincing. However, Matinee de Septembre makes up for it -- for me -- with its wonderful sense of place at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
Several of the protagonists and plots are recognizably inspired by Lynch's own profession, and these are (it seemed to me) the most genuine and affecting. As at least one other Goodreads reviewer has noted, the female characters in Matinee de Septembre and Apparition seem a little less convincing. However, Matinee de Septembre makes up for it -- for me -- with its wonderful sense of place at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
April 29, 2010
This is good writing, simply put. I was stunned by the first story, Catch & Release, both by its concise language and the way Lynch was completely inside the mind of the protagonist. The novella, Apparition, is a revelation in and of itself. The way that the author takes on weighty issues such as adultery, consumerism, the realm of "self-improvement", and religiousness (rather than religion itself) through the eyes of the narrator is masterful. As a short story enthusiast I was very taken in by the muscular prose, which while being manly wasn't an exercise in machismo. Highly recommended to short story readers and also to women who like to occasionally read a "guy book".
October 27, 2010
I think Lynch is an excellent author. His essays are remarkable - I didn't think that I would ever want to read a book by an undertaker, but Lynch convinced me to do so. So I was looking forward to these short stories.
They did not disappoint. The first story, "Catch and Release" moved so smoothly - like the river that the speaker is visiting. I had to catch my breath at the end. The other story that stuck with me was "Matinee de Septembre". The main character was mesmerizing. One review referred to Stendhal syndrome when speaking of this story. A new concept to me, but it does help to define the story in my mind.
I hope that Lynch writes more fiction, soon.
They did not disappoint. The first story, "Catch and Release" moved so smoothly - like the river that the speaker is visiting. I had to catch my breath at the end. The other story that stuck with me was "Matinee de Septembre". The main character was mesmerizing. One review referred to Stendhal syndrome when speaking of this story. A new concept to me, but it does help to define the story in my mind.
I hope that Lynch writes more fiction, soon.
November 22, 2011
It's as if Lynch has captured the constant vigilance and abiding presence of his professional life as a funeral director in his written words. When so many fiction writers crowd their stories and novels with hundreds of characters and thousands of extraneous details, it's calming to settle into Lynch's rich, tightly focused narratives... The old and the new, the living and the dead: this collection of short stories is a trove of carefully observed lives. If you're drawn to quiet, moving portraits and patient character studies, you'll find all this and more in Apparition and Late Fiction. (Reviewed by Casey Cep).
October 16, 2015
This is a collection of short stories and a novella. This is excellent storytelling.
The author is both an undertaker and poet. You may imagine that his writing may be depressing or overly concerned with death. That is not true. While death and dying have a presence in his writing, they help the reader see the places in life that are both transient and permanent. Lynch knows firsthand that life should be cherished not in a simplistic way full of false cheer but cherished for the complex, heart-wrenching and profound experience that it is.
The author is both an undertaker and poet. You may imagine that his writing may be depressing or overly concerned with death. That is not true. While death and dying have a presence in his writing, they help the reader see the places in life that are both transient and permanent. Lynch knows firsthand that life should be cherished not in a simplistic way full of false cheer but cherished for the complex, heart-wrenching and profound experience that it is.
February 3, 2010
The theme of death runs throughout the novella and four short stories that make up this debut fiction collection from poet and essayist Thomas Lynch. Instead of being emotional or extreme, the stories explore the routine interactions of undertakers and coffin salesmen, and the soft, permeating grief of widows and sons after the shock of death has worn away. Very nicely written.
April 4, 2012
I've liked everything Tom Lynch has written. This collection of short stories is no exception. Many of the stories center on how in living we deal with death and loss. "Catch and Release" is wonderful, and after reading "Apparition" I will never be able to hear "Let It Be" without being reminded of this story.
November 11, 2011
I did really enjoy this little book of short stories. Thomas Lynch is an undertaker in Milford, Michigan. He also lives in West Clare, Ireland. Most of his stories revolve around death, loss etc. He seems to know people well and death. I would definitely like to read more by him.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews