Another Perfect Catastrophe: And Other Stories

By Brad Barkley

In the spirit of Tobias Wolff and Richard Ford, these ten chilling, deeply felt stories from acclaimed author Brad Barkley explore the complexity of male friendships and marital relationships. Among the stories is "The Way It's Lasted," in which Billy deals with his crumbling marriage and a visit from his father, who may or may not have cancer and who is desperate to see the reconstruction of Noah's Ark at a nearby church. "Beneath the Deep, Slow Motion" introduces us to Bosco and Ray, two drifters who scheme about murdering a neighbor and stealing his diamond collection so that they can afford to pay doctors to save Bosco from an untimely death. Nelson's mother, Myra, in "Mistletoe," has Lou Gehrig's disease, and he struggles with her request for help in killing herself before the disease does. The title story brings us to Reed, who feels reluctant to leave his childhood friend Sugar---who was crippled in a logging accident ten years ago---when Reed's much younger girlfriend, Lyndsey, pressures him to move on. In these stories and others, Barkley's prose---and his ability to create a palpable sense of time and place and mood---bring his characters vividly to life. Through these honestly crafted and carefully executed tales of people who find themselves banging their heads against their reduced circumstances, Barkley restores our faith in human beings' ability to endure the ravages of time with decency and humor. With his touching and critically praised novel Alison's Automotive Repair Manual , Barkley established himself as a writer to watch, and in Another Perfect Catastrophe , he proves to be at the height of his powers. "Underline this writer as one whose work needs to be on your shelf. You will be much the better for it." --- Mississippi Clarion-Ledger

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312291477
• ISBN13: 9780312291471
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Another Perfect Collection of Stories

Barkley is a master storyteller. In this collection of finely crafted fiction, we meet ordinary people who grapple with ordinary dilemmas -- fractured marriages, friendships that can no longer be sustained, impending death, loss, boredom, love, and longing. These stories compel with their honesty and attention to the small details of everyday life. Barkley mines the exchanges between parents and adult children, husbands and wives, friends, and lovers, and brings these stories alive with subtlety, humor, and poignancy. Barkley's characters have the kinds of quirkiness that makes them memorable -- from Tommy Kesler's trick of folding paper lanterns and setting them on fire in "The Way It's Lasted," to the incomparable Lisk in "Those Imagined Lives," who concocts a plan to hunt a Chevy Impala in the Utah desert (to name just two). This collection explores the intricacies of the human heart, how that heart merges with others, cracks, repairs. Barkley's range shines in this collection, especially in the title story ("Another Perfect Catastrophe"), "Those Imagined Lives," "19 Amenities," "The Small Machine," and "St. Jimmy." Each story ends with a quiet epiphany, a way of looking at the world that sustains and moves, and uncovers the extraordinary in the ordinary. I didn't want the book to end.

Breathtaking and true

Barkley manages to serve tragedy with a side of humor certain to make you smile even as you find tears springing to your eyes. Never satisfied with the easy irony or pat answer, Barkley's stories speak to the human experience and all of its complexity. Smart, funny, and touching, these stories will live inside of you long after you have put the book down.

A joy to read

Barkley has the incredible ability to find the significant in the ordinary, the profound in the simple, from broken bottles to pieces of steel. Each story quietly draws from the stuff of everyday life and shows characters hemmed in and liberated by the objects that surround them. Wonderfully imaginative, humerous and smart. I loved this book.

Read It

At times hilarious, at times devastating, always captivating, this is a Must Read. Unlike so many contemporary writers, Barkley does not fall back on easy irony or smug judgment when presenting the fears and joys of his stunningly realistic characters. This is an author who loves his characters, despite their weaknesses, and you will love them too. A truly memorable collection.