“If we could have everything we wanted in an instant without fear of consequence? No worry of jail or societal reproof of any kind? No having to look our victims in the eyes because the victims have conveniently vanished? If we could have that? Stalin’s crimes would pale in comparison to what we’d do in the name of love. In the name of the heart wanting what the heart wants.”
That sentiment is at the heart of this collection of short stories by Dennis Lehane. My absolute favourite was “Running Out of Dog”. Set in Eden, South Carolina, this is the story of a small town that wanted to put itself on the map by building a world-class amusement park. A decision to eliminate the countless stray dogs that mar the landscape brings forth a sadly morbid reality where life is a “6 year old boy sitting by the ditch, waiting to die” … just like that kid in the war who got shot in the head, but kept running with half a head for 8 to 10 steps before realizing that he was already dead.
I also liked “Until Gwen”, the story of a con man and his son, both battling over a missing diamond. It was as much a picture of broken relations as it was a clever skirmish over lost treasure. (I did not much like the play version of this story; it seemed dragged out for no reason).
While “ICU” had quite an interesting idea at its core - a man who sits outside the ICU unit of different hospitals, pretending he has family within - the overall purpose of the events was not very clear.
I did not much care for the other 2 stories, “Gone Down to Corpus” and “Mushrooms” - both revolved around petty criminals whose actions were neither very interesting nor driven by some great motivation, and I just could not get into it.
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