Cake

THE SHORT OF IT: Cake is a collection of tough short stories by a skilled craftsman in which realistic characters experience and respond to the stress of modern social realities. i greatly appreciate the quality of these stories but, being an anthropologist (as well as a short story reader), I also tend to focus on the structural minefields of the modern emotional relationships Mr. Davies describes. Some of the longer pieces of Cake resonate with "Fiesta", a wonderful earlier short story by Mr. Davies. For me, the young protagonist of "Fiesta" could have grown into Philip of "Snapdragon" or Wallace of "The thing itself". Too bad about that, eh? One root of the problem relationships described in the Cake stories is that "falling in love" type people also tend to fall in love again with new people. Understandably, this causes their old lovers to become angry bitter and distrustful. Staying-together-for-the-children results in a depressing toxic stew of a marriage that does not nurture anybody. Relationships based on friendship might tend to be more durable. Evelyn and the young protagonist of "Fiesta" had friendship. But, on Evelyn's part, not the chemistry, as she had a thing for bad boys and short term sexual intimacy. Clearly a friendship marriage of this kind would have to include a lot of overlooking. (By the way, Evelyn is a fascinating character but when she grows older I can see her turning into somebody like Astrid from the Cake story "Dan, Astrid Says". Personally, I like Evelyn a lot better than Astrid.) The modern wimmin in these stories seem to have the upper hand over their men, until they have children and then their options are limited. On this structural foundation, Mr. Davies builds his artful stories describing some of the trials and tribulations of modern relationships.

Gee whiz, I came to discuss 'Cake' and, lo and behold, before I can even begin I find I've entered an online world of mudslinging and controversy! My God. Who would've guessed a collection of original short-stories from the Johns Hopkins Press could inspire such gangsta-like animosities? I'm not quite sure why this should be the case (professional jealousy? philistine ignorance? or is life, itself, just that damn cheap in Baltimore these days?), but I'll resist the temptation to further investigate or review the reviewers and just get on with the book. Here goes: Blissfully ignorant of the cyber sniping, I was initially drawn to 'Cake' by 'Counterfactuals', the author's clever, witty, very brief riff on Philip Roth's novel 'The Counterlife.' In his novel Roth proposes various alternate lives for his characters in America and the Middle East. Issues of identity, history, geopolitics, morality and all manner of responsibility are thus explored in depth as they're worked out in series of alternate could've-been existences. Davies jettisons the weight of history (the weight of the world) and explores the conceit in purely America terms. The result is a playful cruel quickie tour of bourgeoisie accomplishment, affluence and hedonism. In an exhilarating four pages whole lives are conjured and dismissed as a seemingly insatiable national desire for something else, something more is laid bare. Davies pays homage to the work that inspired him while adding something uniquely his own. Other stories prove to be just as strong. Throughout the collection Tristan Davies seems to work in two distinct veins. (That, ahem, would make for at least one more than most of his contemporaries.) In stories like 'Grouper Schmidt' and 'On The Night Before Her Birthday' he adheres to a strict realism. With wit and great craft he depicts the lives of the alienated educated middle-classes, the children of Cheever, the younger siblings of Beattie. Twenty years ago these stories might have appeared in 'The New Yorker.' Interspersed with these are shorter pieces like 'Counterfactuals' in which the author truly lets loose. A comparison could perhaps be made in places to Robert Coover or Donald Barthelme. Though Davies is much better versed in contemporary sociological detail than Coover, able to cover vast expanses in much less time. Whole lives, sexual histories, decades of neurotic behavior and pathological "acting out" are brilliantly delineated and played with, riffed through like so many pornographic playing cards or (to be a bit more middlebrow) DSM-IV diagnostic sheets. The writing is lucid, sharp, nasty and clean. The results: amusing, thrilling and unsettling. One story alone, the tour-de-force 'Talent Show' is worth the price of the book.

Charmingly individual stories that reflect not only Baltimore, but pieces of ourselves as well. Not recommended if you are looking for feel-good stories.

A lot of literary folk have compared this collection of Tristan Davies to Cheever and Borges and Barth and other such highbrow masters. And while it is true that lyrical writing, original literary conceits, and cultural sophistication abound in this eclectic collection, one misses the mark by comparing these works to the maestros of the past. Something new and exciting is afoot here in this collection. The Title of the collection would have one believe these stories to be a confectionary delight, which they are. "Talent Show," "Personals" and "Alias" are delectable in their charm. But Mr. Davies is not only armed with sugar, flour, and eggs. He has inserted into the collection equally compelling tales that have the heart of a hurricane raging, albeit beneath the surface of smooth prose and images so perfectly interwoven into the meaning of the tale, they make the idea of a prosepoem a paltry thing. Thematically, the whole collection works as an entire experience. Truth-baring, gut wrenching stories like "A Night Dive" and "Crazy Yvonne" wrestle the reader to the ground with the powerful rending of fading and lost and yearned for love, only to have the shorter confectionary delights like "Personals," "On the Night Before Her Birthday" and "Talent Show" pick the reader up with humor and cleverness and place one back in the realm of redemption, where one can laugh and smirk at the foibles of human love. An exciting collection by a writer to be watched.