Brain Work: Stories [Paperback]

Guista's uneven debut collection of short stories pits, to mixed results, therapy against theology. His characters, often complex and emotionally crippled, seek answers to the fundamental questions concerning God, love and the meaning of life. These are treacherous waters for a first-time author, but Guista navigates them mostly unscathed, exhibiting the clinical compassion you'd expect to find in someone with advanced degrees in fiction writing and psychology. The 14 stories share a confessional tone that sometimes approximates a group therapy session (from "Godcrazy": "My name's Ed and I know I'm crazy. I like to fly but I also like people."), which isn't surprising, considering many of his characters either work in the mental health field or are in therapy themselves. Guista is at his best when he stays within his element of brainy, self-aware professionals; the few instances when he branches out (as in "Front Yard," a dismal and mercifully brief lampoon about a paranoid, God-fearing ranching family), his knack for understanding his characters utterly vanishes. However, the strong stories that bookend and pepper this collection far outweigh the few misses.
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The connection between literature and psychology has always been strong. This collection of short stories makes the connection even clearer. Most of these stories are brief and dense; most of the characters are fascinating, but because of their problems, many of them are difficult to relate to, and others are simply unlikable as people. The plot descriptions are not as complex as the stories themselves: a couple on the verge of divorce sells off their belongings while bickering; a psychiatrist slowly realizes his life's work has been in vain; a professor tries to deal with his guilt over a hit-and-run accident. Guista's interest in and compassion for his characters is clear throughout this fascinating and difficult--but ultimately intriguing and challenging--collection. Marta Segal
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Michael Guista's emotionally adept, psychologically acute debut collection explores the vast mysteries of the human mind and the fascinating intricacies of the soul. Turning a keen fictional eye to the rich terrain explored by Kay Redfield Jamison and Steven Pinker, Guista confronts modern mind-body dilemmas with an extraordinary mix of compassion for his characters and awe at their situations. A disillusioned psychiatrist discovers too late the folly of his professional obsession with unusual brain injuries. A son confronts the legacy of his father's schizophrenia, with surprising conclusions. An endearing late-life romance blooms between two patients in a nursing facility, one of whom is discovering life anew as the other sinks into the confusion of Alzheimer's. Disquieting, funny, and deeply human, these stories offer wise comment on the ambiguities of life.

Michael Guista is a contributor for Houghton Mifflin Company titles including: 'Brain Work'