Through the Safety Net: stories

This lyrical, intensely personal collection of short stories mines the depths of simple souls in various stages of turmoil. A couple struggling with the death of their baby, a man painting his way out of the drudgery of his misspent life and into the melancholoy colors of old age, a young man intent on gaining fame through the sensational act of smashing through plate glass--these small stories are rendered large through gentle ironies woven into elegant prose. This collection could easily fall into common trap of hackneyed, pointless introspection, but it doesn't. Each story is far too clever, well-crafted, and even funny. In their own way each is wrapped in a veneer of hope, possibility, or at least, dignity. One of the cleverest of the bunch is "Gryphon", in which a young boy learns about the world from an eccentric teacher he's not likely to forget soon. "A Late Sunday Afternoon by the Huron" is an intimate pastiche, a beautiful literary take on a famous French painting. "Stained Glass" spins a familiar tale of love's follies with a delightful twist.Baxter brings the beauty of language and the saving grace of personal affection to his characters. In a short time they become old acquaintances. They're people one can continue to learn from the more one thinks.

This collection is made extraordinary largely because of the terrain Baxter explores. He pokes into moments like a retired businessman's struggle to stay retired ("Cataract"), a married couple's trip to New Mexico that is meant to help them cope with the recent death of their infant daughter ("Surprised by Joy") and does so in a way that makes them particular to the characters involved. "Winter Journey" is "about" a couple's breakup, and "Talk Show" involves a boy's first experience with death, but you wouldn't describe those stories that way if talking to a friend. You'd talk about the details, the way the protagonist's car in "Winter Journey" "smells of burned electrical wire and popcorn," and the amazing depth we are treated to in "Talk Show." The latter story is written in a very odd third person that sometimes takes us into a young boy's mind and sometimes keeps us external. It's a lovely story. "Gryphon" is audaciously funny and "Saul and Patsy are Getting Comfortable in Michigan" presents us with two of Baxter's most cherishable personages, who appear in later collections. This book is poignant and sensitive and wry and very very good on the second and third reads.