One Dog Happy

Molly McNett is a sensitive, quiet observer of the transitory space between a woman's interior world and her outward life, while she also takes in the mysterious emotional lives of men, adolescents, and the elderly. Her focused eye is both sharp and simultaneously empathetic on everyone, even the weak and hypocritical.

Thank you. Thank you. Sorry. And thank you. I've been gone for too long. But I've read your emails, read your comments, and- most significantly- telegraphically received the thoughts you've inserted into my preconscious mind. I know I have to start reviewing again. I assure you I didn't simply stop having opinions over the past six months. I just became consumed with hand crafting multi-day-long playlists that nobody will ever listen to on my iPod. It's a noble endeavor and I offer no apologies, but I just finished reading Molly McNett's short story collection and I knew I needed to set down the iPod and share this. Each story in this collection is brilliant in its own way, but they share a certain Midwest ambiance. Underneath the stifling stoicism of the plains, the young characters try to wring a logic out of the unspoken and often cruel adult world. Listen, I can't do it justice and the writing is so good I feel like a punk for trying to review it. I had a great idea for a clever title for this review and didn't stop to jot it down, and now it's lost forever. And don't say it'll come back. It won't. They never do anymore. This is a remarkable collection of stories that I guarantee will leave you wanting more. This is a big day coming up for the Midwest and for Illinois. Especially for those of us who have never experienced having a president who was actually smart, capable, and well-intentioned. Yes we can, and yes we did, and read this book. Trust me. Don't wait for Oprah to discover Molly McNett. In fact, here's an idea: Join several book clubs and insist they select this book. Then, kick out any members who either didn't read it or didn't like it, and form a new club of just the people who can appreciate real talent.

Molly McNett's short story collection "One Dog Happy" travels the bare field setting of childhood lived in dysfunction without tripping the land mine of patronizing the characters (or the reader) and without trenching with the dull plow of easy shock value. Instead, her first and third person narratives each create a setting, explore an idea or an emotion within each setting, and then end just when they should end. These stories take place in the frayed end of middle America--less a geographic destination than threadbare fibers on the despairing edge of "normal living". Ms. McNett's accessible style shows a keen ear for conversation, and a keen eye for locating the beating heart of her often-young characters. Although the pieces provide a chamber-music sense of accomplishment, I found myself wondering if her narrative gifts in illustrating vignettes of lives need always be put to use in portraying lives lived in difficult situations. Notwithstanding Tolstoi, I felt that a few stories about lives that work well despite the challenges might have given the work a more rounded, multi-instrumental feel. This is nonetheless a fine short story collection, frmo an author whose gifts assure us she will have much to say.

In One Dog Happy, Molly McNett tells seven touching stories about disappointment and compassion. Her characters let each other down, but they make up for it in other parts of their lives in simple, yet profound ways. They find happiness in making someone else happy, as the old Frank Sinatra song goes. Even if that someone is an incontinent dog. Or a sad mother. Or a bitter teenager. The farming communities west of Chicago provide a beautifully candid backdrop where chores still have to be done and life isn't always kind, but it always goes on. McNett's insightful narration, quiet humor and crisp writing keep the reader engaged from beginning to end.