Bang! You're Dead! by Ray Bradbury

We never win, but the battle wages on, like toy soldiers.

Here is another average offering by Ray Bradbury that isn't very memorable. I surely mentioned it in other reviews of his work, but for an author who wrote thousands of short-stories during a prolific career spanning decades, it's almost impossible for anyone, even the super talented Ray Bradbury to consistently pump out great works. 

I initially thought this was going to be a western from the title alone: Bang! You're Dead!, which is one of those familiar exchanges between children when playing some kind of imaginative shoot em' up game with each other (ex: Cowboys vs. Indians, etc). Sure, war is all fun and games when it's make-believe, but the actual brutality and imminent death on the battlefield is no laughing matter. The anti-war sentiment in this story comes across as heavy-handed, which didn't really bother me as much as the weird, surreal aspects. Perhaps this was intentional on the author's part, highlighting the absurdity of war, although it mostly succumbs to it's own silly plot contrivances. 

The story centers around a young soldier named Johnny Choir fighting in an unidentified war (WW1 or WW2? I am not sure) who takes on almost mythological status like Superman, deftly dodging enemy bullets while his comrades are dying all around him. Even his name suggests something out of a comic book. He innocently thinks fighting in this war is a game, which gives him the superpower of fearlessness. Kids eventually have to grow up and when another disgruntled soldier shatters Johnny's child-like imagination with the devastating reality of their circumstances, he loses the invisible armor that was keeping his safe in the war all this time. Unfortunately, for me, the ending comes across as a little sappy and maudlin, detracting from the emotional resonance that was likely intended.

Copernicus is Dying by Emily Doyle

Copernicus is Dying is a great title and probably the best thing going for this short story. That might sound a tad harsh and it's not that I vehemently disliked reading it, but unfortunately, this really didn't do much for me. That's the beauty of short stories, though. They are usually short enough and don't take up much of your time. If you come across one you don't like, you can just move on to the next one.

The narrator is a single mom driving around desperately searching for large crickets at various Petco stores because her son's lizard, Copernicus, is sickly from a lack of nourishment. Apparently the little guy has quite an appetite for the larger, crunchier, more delicious variety, but there's a shortage of them. Drats. She also has a strained relationship with her son and hopes that completing this increasingly ridiculous cricket-finding mission will bring them closer together and get her back in his good graces.

Maybe there is more depth to the story that I am missing, but everything just fell flat, coming across as a too jejune and safe. The humor also didn't really land for me. I never felt emotionally invested in where the story was going. Just indifference. Maybe you'll get more out of it than I did.

On a more positive note, Literary Hub is a great resource for free short stories, especially for discovering new contemporary authors whose work otherwise would never have crossed my radar. Emily Doyle is one of those authors and although I'm in no rush to read anything else by her, I am curious to see if some of the other writers featured on the site appeal to me more.

You can read this story HERE.

Margins by Donald Barthelme

Eddie Murphy in Trading Places.

In Margins, Donald Barthelme tackles racial stereotypes and anti-black racism through an absurdist, post-modern lens. The result? It's a mixed bag. Edward, a white man, confronts a black panhandler named Carl in the streets and the entire story is just their conversation. The satire is on point, with the author poking fun at white assumptions about black people and vice versa. There is a complete breakdown in communication filled with nonsensical bantering because both men are constantly subverting racial stereotypes to catch the other one out. For example, Edward thinks that Carl is just another uneducated black man, especially based on his disheveled appearance and the penmanship of his panhandling sign. Ironically, Carl is quite articulate and sophisticated, playing along with Edward's superficial tests to label him. 

There is a lot to unpack here from a racial analysis perspective, especially since power dynamics are at the forefront and constantly shifting throughout the story. Their conversation becomes increasingly intense, both getting on each other's nerves and not surprisingly, erupts in violence at the end. The author seems to suggest that having honest conversation about race is important, allowing an opportunity for empathy but here, it is used nefariously by the white man as a method to dehumanize and control the black man. Cleverly, Carl's defensive strategy is to adopt white culture and embody the persona of a sophisticated white man, which continually makes Edward more belligerent. Despite the heavy subject matter, the juxtaposition between racial superiority and self-effacement also generates plenty of humorous moments between the two men. Ultimately, these racial stereotypes have become so normalized by society that it is impossible for these two men to communicate or have an honest conversation about race. Instead, it becomes a bizarre and confusing exchange of miscommunication, ironic reversals and silly verbal exchanges.

When Flashers Meet by Pamela Painter

Corn Flakes and flashing don't really go together.

I didn't expect to encounter a short-story involving two shoplifters bonding over kleptomania and their shared propensity for exhibitionism at a grocery store, but there you have it. The narrator is a grieving widow, possibly in her 70s or 80s, and shoplifting makes her feel alive. It gives her excitement, purpose, and apparently a reason to strut around the grocery store like The Dude from The Big Lebowski, wearing her late husband's oversized robe to conceal stolen items, specifically cereal. 

Her grief is mostly masked by abrasiveness and playful humor, which doesn't always land. She eventually ends up feeling like a bumbling amateur after meeting a gentleman in one of the grocery aisles who is capable of concealing an entire rotisserie chicken under his jacket. Now that takes real skill. 

Pamela Painter is another new author for me, and When Flashers Meet is the kind of light, innocuous short story that I was hoping might help pull me out of the reading slump I have been stuck in since January. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case and it really didn't do much for me. As a piece of flash fiction, the narrative constraints are even more limited to make an impression on the reader than your typical short-story. Unfortunately, it's far too preoccupied with eccentricity over anything else. There are a few amusing moments, but underneath all the quirkiness, there's not much else going on here. 

You can read this story HERE.