Customer Reviews

Winter of Different Directions

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

 

 

Steve McDermott has long made a practice of reading and responding to submissions for his Storyglossia journal, putting together 19 great issues along the way, as well as 5 great YEARS(!) worth of insightful commentary and analysis on the craft of the short story. Now he's come out from behind the scenes, to step into the spotlight in this, his first collection of published stories. These stories show us he's not just a teacher of the craft, but a blacksmith with the word, a creator of characters going up, down, and some just plowing their way straight through the difficulties of life. These stories will take you all over the Pacific Northwest and keep your feelings close to the characters all the way through. Stop reading whatever you're reading now and read this book. McDermott will show you where the future of short fiction is going.

What can I say? This is a fantastic set of short stories and it is a privilege to write this review. I had the pleasure of experiencing most of the stories featured in this book in podcast form. I thoroughly enjoyed them and my daily commute was much more enjoyable as a direct result. Steven J. McDermott is a great story teller. This collection of stories includes a fair amount of variety. Some of these tales are gritty and all are about the human conditions, frailties, weaknesses and all. This collection of stories is highly recommended.

These days, who has time to watch a feature film or read a long novel? Steven J. McDermott gives you a great alternative in his engrossing short stories that can be read in a single sitting. The stories are emotionally authentic with a strong visual bent, so you can feel and see the story unfolding as you read. He is a talented writer who brings short story writing into the big leagues. Do yourself a favor and buy this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short stories. There is a great diversity of situations and characters in this book. The author excels at bringing the reader into the story.

There's a little bit of everything in this book. The characters run the gamut from a homeless landscaper trying to pretend he's still in business to a self-made millionaire watching his empire crumble. There's a drunk pro-golfer, a carpenter obsessed with single malts, and a software developer who can't debug his code. Best of all, there's a guy who was paralyzed in a crowd-surfing accident and returns to the mosh pit in his wheelchair. Now that's originality. I think Enter Wheelchair Man is the best story in the book and it's certainly the one that stayed with me longest. Overall, this is a good collection and worth a read, especially if you like dark protagonists who expose the most pathetic and embarrassing of humanity's flaws.