The Middle of the Night

Daniel Stolar sent me an e-mail a long time ago and asked if I'd like to read his collection of short stories. I bought the book, but it got lost somewhere in the big heap of unread books in my library. I stumbled upon his book a couple of days ago and decided to give it a whirl. Glad I did. Middle of the Night is quite a delightful, poignant and thought-provoking collection of stories, most of which are based in St. Louis. The stories center on people who have difficulty dealing with overwhelming events in their lives. Some of the characters are not comfortable in their own skin. The characters are flawed and palpable -- it was impossible not to relate to their plights and nod in agreement with their thoughts. My favorite stories are "Jack Landers is My Friend," "Marriage Lessons," "Mourning," "Crossing Over," and "Second Son." I wish I hadn't waited this long to read this book. Middle of the Night was like finding a treasure box in my own backyard. I will read whatever other books Stolar has written or may write in the future.

The opening story ("Jack Landers is My Friend") in Dan Stolar's debut collection of fiction In the Middle of the Night is a sophisticated comedy of manners wherein a thirty-something married Jewish man searches for acceptance from a group of friends he's not even sure that he likes. The story is emotionally provocative and recalls such masters of the form as Cynthia Ozick, Alice Munro, and Raymond Carver.In the humorous and heartrending story "Home in New Hampshire" a paraplegic woman watches the twenty-year-long disintegration of her marriage to an adulterous husband while her children leave home for college. It is pitch-perfect and emotionally profound.It's a rare treat, indeed, to discover such a singular talent and voice as Daniel Stolar's. He renders the familiar new and the new familiar. He says what we all have felt but were incapable of saying. And he says it with a clarity and emotional resonance unlike any other short story writer in America. One can not help but cheer for the future of the short story form when it is in the hands of such a capable master as Daniel Stolar. Bravura, stunning, profound. In the Middle of the Night will make you want to stand up and cheer.Stacey Cochran

Smartly written and deviously understated, "The Middle of the Night" presents eight stories so refreshingly idiosyncratic that one is hard-pressed to compare Daniel Stolar to another writer. Most of the stories share a similar framework--an introductory section followed by an extended flashback (to childhood, to high school, to college, to a previous marriage), concluding in the present with the story's resolution. And most feature a character going through some type of midlife crisis or interpersonal conflict--between generations, between sexes, between classes, between races. Yet, in spite of their similar themes and structures and their calm, melancholy tone, each is remarkably distinctive and--most of all--the characters are instantly familiar. Stolar has a knack for sketching a person or a situation in a few simple sentences, and any reader will admire his ability to write from different points of view (a male college student, a 70-year-old retiree, a young married woman).While all eight stories are memorable in their own way, everyone is sure to have his or her favorites. Mine are: "Second Son," about a 70-year-old man whose closeness to his son from a second marriage atones for his remoteness to and impatience with an older son; "Fundamentals," portraying a young father who calculatedly raises his son with the forbearance his own father denied him; and "Mourning," concerning a college student who, following his mother's death, is rescued from emotional collapse by a benevolent classmate rendered aloof and indecipherable by an upper-class (read: WASP) upbringing. "Crossing Over," about a Jewish college student who pledges a black fraternity, seems to have received the most attention; it is a fine story, but reading it is uncomfortable--not so much because of the subject matter but because the many black characters in the story are nearly indistinguishable stage props for the protagonist's self-induced drama.Although Stolar has written a story sharing the book's title (it was published last year in Bomb Magazine), it was omitted from this debut volume. In an interview with a reporter, he said that "[My editor and I] kept the title because it just seemed to fit. There's a point in each story where somebody is awake in the middle of the night." Indeed, it's a perfect title for this collection: these stories are about the emotional crises that make insomniacs of all of us.

I have never been a huge fan of short stories. I prefer the novel length format so I can spend more time with the characters that I have come to know and short stories tend to cut me off just when I want to learn more about a character or a situation. But, this collection came highly recommended to me and there is a blurb on the back cover from Alison McGhee (Rainlight) comparing Daniel Stolar's stories to those of Jhumpa Lahiri (Pulitzer Prize winning author of "The Interpreter of Maladies"). With the recommendation and a blurb from an author I admire, I was willing to give this collection a chance and I'm glad that I did.This is Daniel Stolar's debut collection and it is superb. There are eight stories, and they share common themes and characteristics. Almost all of them are set in the St. Louis area (or the characters are from St. Louis), and they deal with the themes of loss, friendship, trying to fit in, and love. There is not a weak story in the collection, but there are some that I found to be more memorable than the others. The first is the first story of the collection "Jack Landers is My Friend", which deals with Jack returning to his high school reunion and reconnecting with his friend, the beautiful Kara. As Stolar tells the story, we are shown glimpses of the past, enough to show us exactly how Jack came to be at this place in his life. Actually, that is another common thread that runs through these stories: the past and present are weaved together so well that the story is stronger and you can't imagine it being told without the flashback. Another standout story is "Crossing Over" which has a white college student pledging to a black fraternity. I didn't expect to like this one because of the topic, but it ended up being a highlight of the collection. This is a collection that I very much wanted to like, but my expectations and my hopes were far exceeded by just how good these stories are. I don't know if Mr. Stolar is at work on another collection, or even on a novel, but I am already looking forward to whatever he publishes next. One thing that I should mention about this collection is that these are not upbeat or cheerful stories. Even though I liked each of the stories, I needed to take a break in between stories, there was that much emotional power contained here. But every time I took a break, I was looking forward to starting the next story. That's the mark of a good storyteller: one who leaves you wanting more.

I have been a big fan of short stories for a long time. I devour new collections like candy. This one is certainly several cuts above what I usually come across. Mr. Stolar's short stories sneak up on you, engage you in places and characters lives so deeply, and slowly lead up to a climax like a punch in the gut. Nothing surprising or thriller-like, but simply emotional and real. I really loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone. A truly great read from a truly talented author.