Trouble: Stories (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Somerville's uneven debut collection portrays men and soon-to-be men in various states of transformational chaos. In "Puberty," Brandon, on the cusp of adolescence, attempts to wrest control of his body from Mother Nature by using vitamins to hasten the onset of puberty. In "Crow Moon," Seth mourns his fading childhood and faces a monotonous and unhappy adulthood. Somerville's men don't behave very differently from the teenagers: in "Cold War," an older doctor's affair with a disturbed young woman is the catalyst for a breakdown as he owns up to his impending mortality. One of the collection's better stories, "Trouble and the Shadowy Deathblow," is the first-person account of an unemployed food scientist who learns a deadly martial arts technique from a disabled man. His struggle to control his newfound power becomes a darkly comic portrayal of men afraid of their destructive power. Less successful are short dialogue pieces like "The Train" and "The Whales," which present the banter of teenage boys without sufficient context or the means to involve the reader. At his best, Somerville crafts stories that, with equal parts grace and humility, highlight mordant absurdity and revel in darkly comic moments. (Sept. 12)
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Review

“A darkly comic portrayal of men afraid of their destructive power. . . . Somerville crafts stories that, with equal parts grace and humility, highlight mordant absurdity.” —Publishers Weekly

“Trouble is a wittily demented and off-beat collection of stories about the peculiar joys and perversions of the ordinary lives of an eclectic group of boys and men. . . . Wildly entertaining and remarkably funny. . . . Reminiscent of such great, dark storytellers as T.C. Boyle and even Ray Carver.” —Artvoice

“Trouble is a great collection of stories, full of the true adventures of life and what it means to be a man.” —Hannah Tinti, author of Animal Crackers

“These gorgeous stories, written with wit and precision, are energized by Patrick Somerville’s improvisational humor and the authentic sympathy he brings to the tempest of ordinary lives. It is hard to think of another book quite like this one. Every story is provocative, revelatory, and satisfying.” —Stephanie Vaughn, author of Sweet Talk

“Wonderful. Here are stories packed with big-hearted humor, serious compassion, and plenty of loopy narrative thrust to keep you turning the pages. Patrick Somerville’s characters exist in a modern world where love and cruelty are indistinguishable, and he imbues their struggle with real grace. Oddly tender, dementedly funny, this book is a pleasure to read.” —Gabe Hudson, author of Dear Mr. President

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Edition/1st Printing edition (September 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307275353
• ISBN-13: 978-0307275356
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #819,069 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a lovely debut, November 9, 2006

By	Hillary I. Schroeder "hillarys" (chicago, il) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The stories were great: funny without relying on stereotypes, poignant without delving into sappy. It's really rare a short story collection can sustain my attention throughout, but this one did.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trouble is My Business, March 27, 2007

By	Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

TROUBLE by Patrick Somerville is a brilliant collection of stories that comes as a surprise, for until the book arrived in my slush pile I had never heard of the author. He writes beautifully in every regard, and most impressive, he doesn't parade his learning and he knows how to craft a plot that perfectly sets off his themes and his symbolism. I learned a lot about the food sciences from his tale of "Trouble and the Shadowy Deathblow," but what I will take away with me is its incisive portrait of a whipped husband and dad whose wife has the power in her eyes to make him jump up from the E-Z chair and do her bidding. He finds himself at a convention in San Francisco and then a special "Monkeys Paw" episode of Steven Spielberg's AMAZING STORIES happens to him in the men's room of his hotel, after a stranger in a wheelchair with a macaw on either shoulder sells him the secret of slaying his enemies with the eponymous "deathblow."

"The essence of trouble," Somerville has written, "is the connection of the emotional and the rational. You make decisions you would not make under normal circumstances." He is especially good at depicting young people, and his story "English Cousin" will have you crying in laughing fits at the dumb and dumber antics of exchange student Bill and his American cousin Terry. If there was an English Anti-Defamation League they'd be planting pickets around Somerville's house and office. As I say he's great with the young, it's when he ventures into the minds and hearts of older men that he's out of his depth. It must be the hardest thing being a fiction writer, having to recreate the inner life of people who are so different than you--men writing women, white writing black, rich people writing poor, whatever. I guess if you were unsure about how you were doing you might actually ask an older person what they thought of your attempts to inhabit their world. Somerville couldn't have asked very many guys otherwise he would have been told that no man has ever suffered from the complaint of Brandon's father in story one, "Puberty." It's imaginative, and might have worked in a sci fi or fantasy world, but believe me, it just doesn't happen, praise the Lord, on planet Earth. Sorry to be so coy but Amazon would not allow my to be as anatomically explicit as Somerville gets. Somerville must think it's something that happens to every guy once he hits 40. I'm here to say, no way Jose.

Other than that (and his crazy ideas about San Francisco geography) Patrick Somerville has blasted off into outer space with a debut collection that reaches for the stars like Wernher von Braun.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worthwhile, November 9, 2006

By	Elizabeth Elkins - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Witty and humorous, yet still touches on some of the dark sides of being human. Great stories. Looking forward to more from the author.