From Publishers Weekly
The stark landscapes of the desert Southwest form the backdrop for Harty's poignant and intelligent debut collection. Two of the eight stories explore the complicated relationships between brothers: a young football player feels the pull of opposing loyalties when his brother, home from the Marines, kills a rival's dog in "What Can I Tell You About My Brother"; in "Crossroads," a Marine bound for Vietnam and his younger brother go to a Led Zeppelin concert in a debauched outing that might be one of their last, best times. Harty shows a keen interest in characters who are down on their luck, as in "Between Tubac and Tumacacori," in which a heroin addict tempts his former partner to leave his girlfriend and begin dealing again, but suffers a twinge of conscience. The longest story is also one of the most affectingly unusual: in "Don't Call It Christmas," Will, a low-level writing instructor in San Francisco, embarks on a hesitantly tender affair with a tough homeless girl while his mother lies comatose in an Arizona hospital; the girl's gutterpunk boyfriend causes trouble, but when Will's mother wakes, happiness seems briefly possible. "Why the Sky Turns Red When the Sun Goes Down" explores the emotional side of a technologically advanced future, as a couple agonizes over their beloved robotic son, who has begun to experience mechanical breakdowns. No one would call these stories uplifting, or optimistic, but they are all fully realized and elegantly told-and often quietly surprising. Hardy excels at creating a three-dimensional desert suburbia populated by seeking, reaching characters, for whom happiness is always just a bit out of reach.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
*Starred Review* The eight stories in this stellar collection are almost unbearably sad. Loneliness and desperation run high in the arid suburban communities of Harty's Arizona. In "Ongchoma," Lynn has lost her passion for Italian literature and spends her evenings drinking tequila poppers and kamikazes. Her closest friend is a gay colleague with a violent boyfriend. The two distract each other with impressively witty comments and find comfort in a game of make-believe, in which he plays her construction worker-husband who takes her to Sedona on the weekends in their pop-up camper, and their life is "simple and good." In "Crossroads," Seth, who is movie-star handsome and has just enlisted in the marines, take his little brother, Wren, to a Led Zeppelin concert. Their whole complicated relationship plays out over the course of the evening as they shot-gun beers and impress each other with wise-ass remarks. Both of them come away from the evening with a renewed sense of possibility that will be completely obliterated in the coming months. Harty displays an incredibly assured sense of storytelling in his first book, grounding his stories in telling details, noble gestures, and a palpable sense of place. His stories will break your heart.
Joanne WilkinsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
