Butter Brown

Butter Brown Short Stories Torrance Stephens, PhD. Hhmm don't let the cover fool you, she may be Butter Brown, but she ain't the Butter Brown. From the moment I opened the book and got into my first story I was hooked. Dr. Stephens has a way with drawing you in that makes you feel like you are a part of the landscape. That you are almost there. He writes with a real passion that seems to wrap around you and holds you close. As a New Englander who attended college in the South, I really didn't know the South. Not the south of Torrance Stephens experience. His use of language unique to Memphis, Tennessee is mesmerizing and engaging. I found myself wanting to know more about the circle of friends he writes about and where are they now? I am not sure it's possible to have favorites, but I do have a few that spoke to me. I loved the short story Melinda. He writes so beautifully about a tryst between a man and a photographer, is it him? perhaps. But what I like is the way in which he approached the intimacy. It could have easily been nasty and gratuitous but it was lovingly done with care and you come away with the sense that Dr. Stephens knows something about women and their needs, but more importantly his own needs come through. My other favorite short story was the last one, for which the book is named..Butter Brown. The setting in Dakar, Africa is heady and sensual and colorful. You can almost hear him walking through the village with all it's exotic sounds and people. You can feel his love for Africa, his love for Sabrina Avery...Butter Brown. I loved this collection of short stories very much and I think Torrance Stephens is a very prolific and sensual writer.

"Butter Brown" is the latest of several short story compilations from Georgia writer Torrance Stephens (A Matter of Attention). The stories, mostly written in first person narrative, for the most part have a common theme of boy meets girl in an unfamiliar place and decides whether to pursue love (or lust) with her. In "Butter Brown," we meet characters that could just as easily be found in a Walter Mosley or Langston Hughes novel, such as Gas Pump who is frustrated with racism and class issues and Sabrina who is engaged to be married but still has feelings for another man. The stories in this compilation are easy to read and the reader should empathize with at least one of the characters. "Butter Brown" is one of the best short story collections Stephens has written. His writing is uniquely descriptive, intellectually written, and even humorous at times. Although some of the stories take too long to develop, and the author has an uncanny habit of using footnotes in his fiction, the vivid writing (which allows readers to escape to far off places without having to leave home) manages to overcome these minor flaws. Expect great things from this author in the near future.