Customer Reviews

Stumbling And Raging: More Politically Inspired Fiction

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This is a very tight, nicely arranged collection of short stories that range from the heartfelt to the absurd. It's nice to observe that these writers do take a stance, artfully and with a keen eye. I liked the emotional richness of stories by Parker, Karan Mahajan, Yu, Keisbye, Boudinot, and Cisneros. And I like the comic a lot, the pictures are fabulous and the writing sharp. Other pieces are laugh-out loud funny (Carman for example). It's a pleasure you can feel good about.

Well, that sly young fox is most assuredly STEPHEN ELLIOTT, the author of last year's exquisitely original "Happy Baby" and the hip mildly clever "Looking Forward to It". In case you can't tell, I've become something of an admirer.

Here, he's editing a collection short stories, all with a decidely political frame of reference, and whether it was by mistake or not, I decided to read this book along with the first collection of stories Elliott edited back in 2003, "Politically Inspired", which is something of a classic I think, because I found myself reading several of those stories twice and thinking about them after the book was set down.

Suffice to say, "Stumbling and Raging" just doesn't have the cutting edge thrill that "Politically Inspired" has, it is not a classic or as nearly exciting, but it is charming and makes several wicked little points in copycat fashion of the first book.

More interesting, to me, are the stories written by Stephen Elliott himself. I would really like to read a collection of stories by just the sly young fox on his lonesome. He's economical but very no-nonsense and has not only heart, but a pointed point of view. We shall see.

I bought this book for the Stephen Elliott-penned comic and the Michelle Herman and Dave Eggers stories (and these did not disappoint). What I didn't know was that two of the best writers you've never heard of (but you will!) offered up work good enough to stand alongside (hell, tower over!) the work represented by famous writers like Sandra Cisneros, etc., in the same volume.

This is a fantastic anthology, and it's no small thing that Elliott has chosen to cast his net so wide. I'm grateful, and, oh yeah, I hopefully helped to defeat one of our more hateful Congressman by forking over my cash. Everyone wins! (Except the hateful Congressmen.)

It was wonderful to realize that the enjoyment of reading this book was also providing support to liberal candidates. Although I did not find all the stories to be outstanding, "The Translator" by Courtney Angela Brkic was both beautifully written and a perfect example of the atrocities of this war that are being hidden from the general public (see author's notes in book)

In fiction I read little but short stories. In an anthology I'm always looking for something great, but I accept the realities of art. I'm happy if a third of the stories in a book are really good, a third hold my interest, and the rest are duds. With "Stumbling and Raging: I got more than that, much more.
There isn't a bad story in the bunch, and there are also some oddball treats in the forms of strange letters, graphic entries, and a piece on John Ashcroft which straddles fact, fiction, story and essay. It works just fine for reasons I'm still trying to figure. The more traditionally-told stories are strong, and several rate the adjective "moving."
Maybe the most interesting thing to me is the overall approach. In the old days we probably would have seen these stories as coming from a little left of center, but this compilation shows why traditional definitions of the political spectrum-- the old poli-sci graph of reactionary-conservative-moderate-liberal-radical-- don't mean a thing anymore. Those terms rely on there being a center. In America the only true center is the middle lane on an Interstate.
That's fine with me. I probably wouldn't agree on too much with any of these writers, and they might be surprised on how much they would disagree among themselves. But their voices are strong, as are their views, and they tell their stories with skill, subtlty and conviction. They entertain in the way good artists must: with discomfort and surprise.