Bending Heaven

Choosing my rating for this volume of short stories was more difficult than I had imagined it would be. Kane's prose flows gracefully - seemingly without effort, but we know that's not true. Her stories and characters pour out onto the pages and into the mind and soul of the reader - these qualities led me finally to the 5-star rating.That being said, these stories are all sad, or about sad people - almost unbearably so. The characters depicted in these tales seem to share in common an inability to cope with the hand they have been dealt by life. There is an angst in each of them that is palpable and aching - they struggle to deal with their careers, their relationships, their families, their emotions, their successes and their failures. There are a couple of stories that deal with the publishing trade - `How to become a publicist' and `Exposure'. In the latter, a writer finds herself becoming more popular later in life, and struggles to deal with the demands of her public - in particular, the need for a photograph to accompany publicity, the very idea of which throws her into a deep panic. In `How to become a publicist', we are given an `inside' look at the colder machinations of the industry - a young woman fresh out of college, idealistic about her love of literature, seeks a job as an editor and settles for a position as a publicist. Her enthusiasm would seem to make her perfect for the position, but she soon finds herself ground down under the weight of the colder, `practical' aspects of the task - in a rare (for this collection) glimpse of the author's sense of humor, we witness the character announce her disdain for the catchphrases we see so often in press releases and book reviews (mea culpa - I've used plenty of them myself, and I don't even do this for a living). I'm tempted to declare this story `luminously mesmerizing', one of her `favorites'.I'm certainly glad I read this book - Ms. Kane is immensely talented, and I look forward to seeing further work from her. I just hope that on her next outing she `homes in' on some more positive and uplifting characters or characteristics.

I loved these stories. They are sad, and full of life, and don't make empty promises to the reader. Beautifully written, lovely, and touching. I look forward to more stories by Ms. Kane

Touching stories that take a simple yet elegant look at humanity's strengths and frailties. Each story finishes "just so", but the reader regrets the end, and wishes there were more to each story, and more stories to the book.We eagerly await Ms. Kane's next offering!