Customer Reviews

Astronauts: and Other Stories

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Recently, I had the pleasure of not only hearing the author read from his debut collection, but talking to him about craft. "I want to hover over these characters," he said, over a pint at the Newtonville Times here in Newton, Massachusetts. He does just that -- observantly, unobtrusively -- and in Astronauts & Other Stories, winds up sending back to earth some radiant, revealing photographs. I'll dispense with the synopses, and say only that the characters are human, the stories inventive, and the tone clear, lyrical, and almost Zen-like throughout. Don't be misled by the author's tenderness. It's genuine, but not without its acknowledgement of sorrow, despair and hurtful behavior. Matthew Iribarne picks up where another of my favorites -- Andre Dubus --left off just a few years ago. Both seems to enjoy a celestial perspective on us. A joy to recommend.

Bryan

It is not so easy to find a writer with Iribarne's subtle ability to draw you into his stories. The craft here is excellent without being noticeable. I am an active reader; conscious and critical of fiction. I found Dan Brown's well-crafted pageturners, for example, entertaining but loaded with very obvious, albeit effective, tricks and teasers on the order "he would never see her alive again..." kind of stuff. After a time being wrested away from the world around me by Iribarne's stories I wonder how he did it. Then there all of those character issues and aspects that are both commonly found in modern life, perhaps mundane and overlooked from day to day, that are exposed by Iribarne as the worthy, complex and truly interesting things about people that really matter. I have to say that the experience of reading Iribarne reminds me a little of reading of Proust. The experience is meditative, but Iribarne is a more efficient Proust where one need not take a weeklong holiday to have a similar experience of a really good read.

Terrific stories. Of course, I may like them more because I try to look at my own dreams for the odd concrete element like the tooth that the priest kept or the car lighter that glowed and brought the family together. Matthew Iribarne knows about the quirky sacramentals that are always revealing us to ourselves. I hope that he keeps writing and helping us cope with the ephemeral relationships of everyday life.

Take a look around the new fiction section at any bookstore these days and you'll see there's a welcome boon in short story collections. And this wonderful book by Matt Iribarne is sure proof that this trend consists of fine, exquisitely written material. I dare you to pick up this collection, read "Make Me Laugh"-a funny, sad and wise tale about a disgraced priest-and not wish you had a couple of hours to wade through all of this smart and witty new writer's stories. This is the kind of book that reminds you of all the greats-Tobias Wolff, Ron Carlsen, Charles Baxter-and offers fantastic nuggets of originality that suggests the beginning of a long and fruitful career for Mr. Iribarne. Don't miss this one.