A playful experimentalist probes the limits of fiction in this
debut collection.The post-collegiate braininess of many of Yu's
stories is like the music of the Talking Heads, making the familiar
seem off-kilter. Among his mathematically audacious fictional
strategies, "Problems for Self-Study" casts itself as a series of
algebraic equations that attempt to account for the inevitable arc
of a marriage, and "32.05864991%" introduces the field of
"emotional statistics" and the precision of probability indicated
by the word "maybe." There's a reversal of Kafka's Metamorphosis in
"Realism," a story suggesting that what's commonly accepted as
literary realism is unrealistic convention. "The Man Who Became
Himself" also takes a Kafkaesque turn in its comic examination of
the essence of identity, when a man starts thinking of himself as
"he" rather than "I," as if he is somehow inhabiting the body of
another. The closing "Autobiographical Raw Material Unsuitable for
the Mining of Fiction" may or may not be autobiographical, may or
may not be fiction, and its narrator, "I," who reads and writes
stories, may or may not be the author. In one of the most
metaphorically compelling stories here, "Florence" takes the form
of science fiction, set a million years from now, when centuries
pass in the blink of an eye, and each human exists isolated on his
own planet, communicating across the void. The title story might
well be the weakest, though the cover it inspires could appeal to
the expanding readership for graphic novels, as Yu details the
plight of "Moisture Man," whose powers fail to make the superhero
cut. Within these 11 stories, Yu uses language to suggest what
language cannot express, as he deals with themes such as the nature
of distance, the essence of time and the illusion of self for
readers whose attention span has been conditioned more by video
games than classic novels.Smart, engaging and often deadpan funny.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Charles Yu experiments with form and genre to explore the stories
we tell ourselves while navigating contemporary life. In "Third
Class Superhero," a would- be good guy must come to terms with the
darkness in his heart. A couple living in the Luxury Car Commercial
subdivision in "401(k)" are disappointed when their exotic vacation
turns into a Life Insurance/Asset Management pitch. The author
struggles to write the definitive biography of his mother in
"Autobiographical Raw Material Unsuitable for the Mining of
Fiction." In these and other stories, Yu's characters run up
against the conventions and parameters of their artificial story
lines while tackling the terrifying aspects of existence: mothers,
jobs, spouses, the need to express feelings. Heartbreaking,
hilarious, smart, and surprising, "Third Class Superhero"marks the
arrival of an impressive new talent.
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