Customer Reviews

Assorted Fire Events: Stories

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These are beautiful and original stories. They show philosophical and religious depth--so are not to be read lightly. They lead the reader to personal reflections on the meaning of life. At points Means made me think of Thomas Wolfe--then I thought they really are the work of an American original Franz Kafka. It's about time! Is that possible in this culture?

A very good compilation of stories. Mr. Means seems to have a particularly acute perception of the downtrodden and the seamier episodes of life. The author seems to be at his best--when he describes (in graphically illustrative language) the most despicable of scenarios. I like this book--because I like the grittier side of life. This author is very adept at capturing these dark moments.

David Means's work first came to my attention in Harpers Magazine. It was clear from the work I saw there that he was a force to be reckoned with, but I had no idea what proportions this impression would take on! I didn't know about the rest of his stories, the best of them having appeared elsewhere. I was very impressed, especially by the title story. An amazing achievement in belle lettres. If you consider yourself a reader of literature, David Means is a must. He is a master of the short story, the likes of which having not appeared in a long, long time; maybe not since Faulkner.

"Wow I wish I could write like this guy!" This phrase must be on the lips of every fine writer practicing his/her craft today. David Means is a miracle man - short stories that feel like novels, so well are they developed and loaded. Yet none is more than 20 pages. And the subjects he chooses to make fictions.....this man has one of the richest imaginations in the business. e is totally unafraid of any subject that others may avoid as being demeaning, or too tough, or so bizarre that noone would be interested. A man's description of a life as a drifter all focused on the way he holds on to moving trains (The Grip), or a man who obsesses on Gestures observed and sought out. The disparity between the rich and the poor, the gnarly conditions of dwelling as a misfit. He plumbs the bottom of the world barrel for characters we'd never think to think about, much less care about and finds reason for molding stories that defy our ability to put them down. For this reader, David Means has created a series of String Quartets - the first subject melody may seem simple but the expositions and variations and permutations are like galaxies we've never known. I think this man is a genius. Haven't been this excited about a writer in a while. Dare it, do it, revel in it. But buy this book!

This is tough stuff. Not for the uninitiated. Life is indeed cruel and people can be nasty beyond what we care to think about. I get it - Means wants us to see all of this head on. And he is skilled, even artful. Despite the relentless bleakness of these stories, and they are indeed jarringly, intrusively dark, and perhaps honest to how cruelty happens, somehow they still skim on the surface rather than getting below for causes, motivation and the illumunation of character. Dark is not always deep and light is not always shallow. Something valuable is missing here.

As the other reviews here suggest, Means is a wonderful lyricist and handles language with admirable nuance and grace. The best pieces here -- such as the Chekhovian "The Interruption," which features the unlikely intrusion of a hobo on a Hilton wedding reception -- wed sly social commentary and convincing inner monologues of desperate people. Means also writes well about regret:"The Reaction," where a neighbor's move, and other images of departure, lead into a doctor's mourning for the figurative loss of his daughter, and the lovely "Widow Predicament," in which a homemade sex tape is an instrument of mourning for a more literal loss, stand out here. My only reservation with this collection is its overreliance on catastrophe and gore; violent deaths seem to be added to each story like exclamation points, sometimes necessary, sometimes not. I for one would like to see Means apply his considerable narrative skills to other, quieter, but equally significant "events."

A perfect, concise, thirteen stories that never fail. As Jonathan Franzen states of the book's jacket, this is one of the "best books of the past ten years." In the post-bombing aftermath, these stories never fail. They are about human trials, the pain of loss, and the redemption of the truth. I felt, reading them, that I was being taken into the heart of the human experience. Means is daring enough to write about deeply complex and troubled lives. He never cops out. It's no wonder this book won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize last year and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle. They saw what I did. A great book.

The sheer scope of a novel allows authors to develop plots and craft three dimensional characters that can stimulate readers; the short story writer, denied the luxury of length, needs to be an exquisite artist to achieve audience engagement: David Means embodies this excellence in an astounding first collection of stories.

The title of this work, Assorted Fire Events, alludes to one of the pieces contained, although it can serve as a characterisation of the work as a whole, as many of the stories deal with those significant events in life, often destructive and dramatic, that define who we at that time, and, whatever our intensions, continue to intrude on our existence long after their occurrence. This sense of being imprisoned by the past is most effectively articulated in "Coitus" and "Sleeping Bear Lament", where characters engaged in everyday activities are suddenly hit by memories of traumatic events. In "Coitus" Means' skilful writing is able to establish from the onset a profound sense of unease even before we know anything of the characters or their situation, as he depicts a sex scene with factual detachment. Whilst the initial thought is of a relationship in decline, as the parties' robotic motions deprive the act of any intimacy, Means shows that it is the male characters guilt over two separate events, a past bereavement and betrayal, that leads to the sense of disengagement, although, with Means' subtle writing, the sense of a relationship doomed can be inferred. In the confines of this short piece the reader's curiosity can not be totally satisfied, as a tidy resolution is not forthcoming, but it is a testament to Means' abilities that in the space of 14 pages, the reader is stimulated to trace the permutations of the tale beyond the printed page.

"Sleeping Bear Lament", is a beautiful and moving reflection on a class outcast, Sam. Although set in America, the sense of a school pupil who is treat as pariah because he is impoverished, or in some senses different, is a universal experience that cannot fail to resonate with the reader. In this story the narrator is seeking redemption for some distance misdemeanours committed against the outcast, to try and purge himself of his past, and project this better, fully formed adult onto the present and seek "forgiveness" from Sam. Whilst the sentiments of the narrator can be appreciated, there is a feeling that his efforts will ultimately be futile, and his guilt will never be assuaged.

With the possible exception of "The Grip", an account of a man's pride of his physical endurance, and the comical "What I Hope For", which seems to parody tales of relentless loveliness, the stories are saturated with melancholy, with characters tormented, or confronted, by tragic events. "Railroad Incident, August 1995" is a disturbing depiction of urban brutality, where a once seemingly successful man collides with the dispossessed. "What They Did", is tale of corporate irresponsibility, where the feelings of victims are starkly contrasted with the emotional detachment of business organisations.

In short, this is an exquisite, beautifully crafted collection of stories, which deal with the tragedies and emotions that are a mark of human existence. Means, in economical, but profound, prose is able to establish characters and events that generate empathy, sympathy and sadness. It is no exaggeration to suggest that Means, if he can maintain this standard, should be in the pantheon of great American short story writers.

Do not be dissuaded by the title, Assorted Fire Events is not a bunch of stories about vaguely interesting fire events; no, it's much more than the latter. David Means brings us thirteen new stories, all different and unique, making a very interesting read.

"The piece he stepped on, from an old malt liquor bottle, was as jagged as the French Alps, the round base of the bottle forming a perfect support for the protrusion . . . it went into his heel cleanly, cutting firmly into the hard pad, opening a wound that sent him falling sideways." So reads the opening story of the collection, entitled "Railroad Incident, August 1995." This is a story about a man who has been cheated on by his wife with one of his dependable friends. A common story you might say, except this betrayal drives him to insanity, where he begins walking aimlessly into the ghettoes of New York. There he is attacked by a group of hoodlums, leading to his ultimate demise. But on this doomed journey he recounts his supposedly happy married life and how things often aren't what they appear to be.

The second story, "Coitus," is unlike any other I have read, and that's really what makes a writer good at his job. The story opens with a couple beginning with the early stages of foreplay, leading to their inevitable lovemaking. But as the main character thrusts away in waves of pleasure, he begins recounting past instances of his life, like the tragic death of his brother, hoe he feel guilty about certain aspects of it. The story is brought to any amusing conclusion with his partner questioning what that `far-away look in his eyes" is.

"Arno listened, half concerned for what Roy was plotting and half concerned for the split in his lip which had opened up and seemed to carry within a chasm of pain too wide for such a small crack in his flesh." "The Interruption" is a story about a hobo dared on by his friend to gatecrash a wedding, shocking all within with his shocking presence. In "The Widow Predicament" a widow must decide what to so with the video of the honeymoon lovemaking. In the Pushcart Prize-winning story, "What They Did," suburban sprawl forces people to make drastic decisions that they may later regret.

"The light throb of the pump going; the faint pulse of the device in his chest cavity opening up with air and deflating next to his heart like a bird nesting between his ribs." "Tahorah" - where a man suffers a devastating accident and must deal with the consequences, along with analyzing the events and repercussions of his life.

The backdrop for most of these stories is suburban and downtown New York, the current residence of the author, which helps bring a certain kind of perspective to each individual story; the surroundings dark and bleak, remnants of the past that cannot be changed, and of a future that cannot be stopped or averted. In Assorted Fire Events one is transported into a type of fantasy world, except the events within all all-too-possible, and either have occurred or quite possibly could occur to any one of us.

Originally published on March 5 2001 ©Alex C. Telander.

Originally published in the Long Beach Union.

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For the most part, "Assorted Fire Events" is a very impressive debut collection - violent, (sometimes) brutal stories delivered in Means's powerful sharp-edged prose, though Mean's style of writing (IMO) can sometimes get in the way of the story. For this reason, I have mixed feelings about Mean's style of storytelling - his best short stories are topnotch: others delivered in a far from conventional style don't work for me at all.

Many of the stories in "Assorted Fire Events" look into the seamy world of the dispossessed, the destitute, the misfits, the disaffected - a menacing subculture of outsiders without a foothold in society. I've focussed on some of my favourites...

During the depression years, hoboes travelled across the U.S.A. in, on top of, under or between the boxcars of freight trains in futile search of work, often slipping or falling to their death under the wheels from numbing cold, wind, weariness or drifting into sleep. Such is the predicament of the hobo in "The Grip" as the train traverses the night desert..... In "The Interruption", the pivotal moment in the story is where two opposing worlds collide when a hungry hobo desperate for food intrudes into a flash wedding reception.....

In Means's world, violence and death are commonplace. His interest in grotesque violence is witnessed in the extremely violent "Railroad Incident, August 1995" and the harrowing title story "Assorted Fire Events", two full-blooded stories that deliver uncompromising, graphic, gut-wrenching descriptions of violence and death that some may find hard to stomach. "Railroad Incident..." describes the mindless violence inflicted on an injured man limping along railroad tracks when he stumbles on "a bunch of rubbish" - four yobs, while "Assorted Fire Events" illustrates in scorching prose, the destructive power of fire in all its ferocity, in an assortment of conflagrations, some evil in intent - a thug sets a dog on fire, a pyromaniac relishes the sheer thrill of torching houses. Stringent stories introducing the reader to a range of horrors!