- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Signature Editions (April 1 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0921833962
- ISBN-13: 978-0921833963
- Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.2 x 1.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 213 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #626,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
There is wisdom and subtle wit in Macpherson and the people she has created . . . These stories should be savoured and reread. Perilous Departures is a winner. -- The Edmonton Journal
Book Description
A small-town Bill Clinton look-alike agonizes over whether to accept a tempting offer from the CIA; an obese young woman finds love in a prairie café; a teenage girl struggles with a sexual predator as she hitchhikes on the autobahn; a newly divorced man tries to return his adopted children; two brothers and a sister take their father’s ashes back to the North, trying to make it over the ice road before break-up. These are just a few of the stories from Margaret Macpherson’s remarkable debut collection, Perilous Departures.
Perilous though they may be, all of these stories represent a departure from the ordinary and all celebrate the chaotic splendour of life. Each story, in its individuality, illuminates the path that leads home, but home isn’t always what we expect, and paths in Macpherson’s world are rarely straight and narrow. With compelling exuberance, Margaret Macpherson entices her readers to leave behind their familiar comforts and join her on an unpredictable journey of hazardous navigations. In Perilous Departures, the risks are many, the rewards transformative. Pubcomments: Margaret Macpherson recently won an Exporting Alberta Award for her work of non-fiction, Nellie McClung: Voice for the Voiceless.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Tales Well Told,
By Marshall McLuhan (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Perilous Departures (Paperback)
Margaret Macpherson's debut collection of short stories are works of concentrated symbol and grace. The most striking feature of these stories is the holographic nature of the writing: plot, symbol, dialogue and character all move the story forward while also containing the story within themselves. In "Potted Palm", a Native felon from the local jail spends Christmas with a family. Reflecting the uneasy race relations between whites and Natives, the children are fascinated and frightened by their visitor, having convinced themselves he is is murderer. When they work up the courage to ask him what prison is like, he replies "Prison can live in your head, but light lives in your heart". In "Autumn Fields", a baby buggy tossed into a dump miraculously unfolds "spinning its wheels in midair . . . It hangs suspended, beautiful and terrible" seconds before it is crushed by a large mechanical arm. The image captures the blossoming and abrupt transitions of motherhood. Margaret Macpherson has kneaded her stories so the essential elements leaven each other. Her tales are satisfying and unexpectedly moving.Among her many strengths, Margaret Macpherson has an ear for the rhythm of language: "Nice, but nice for someone else", "Jimmy the Wind", "quips and quizzles". She is unsentimental about the passions motherhood: a son is out past his curfew and his anxious mother vacillates between tenderness ("If he comes now, I will let him sleep late") and outrage ("I will kill him"). The author is a shrewd observer of power games between the sexes: a flag girl takes off her cap to let "her hair fall to her shoulders, reminding everyone she was not only female, but THE female". Macpherson's humor is a strong force in the book: a child in Disneyland reflects "Minnie might have a gun in her red purse. You have to be careful around Americans . . ." A minor drawback of the book is the occasional small flaw in diction, noticeable only because the writing is otherwise so seamless. One theme in the stories is life in the North. "There are only two seasons in the North. One is the season of light and the other is the season of darkness". The stories describe how the immensity of the northern landscape and the brutality of its climate make a permanent imprint on the feelings and the symbol system of its inhabitants. Another theme in the book is young girls coming of age. Sexuality is by turns danger, currency and new territory to discover. A young girl tells a scientist in an asbestos suit "I wanted to find out for myself. I was supposed to be keeping people away, but nobody told me from what." The domestic dramas of family life are also explored: "The worst rows we had, Mike and I, were about the baby." The language of these stories is pruned and plain; the subject matter is deceptively commonplace. A woman considers making a will. A high school girl observes a chubby friend fall in love. However, Macpherson understands how ordinary things shimmer with extraordinary meaning: "the X (in the name Alexis) is stitched in black beads like a secret mark on a treasure map". A blue glass plate "captures the morning sun" and draws a messenger to the house. The stories are structured to bring the reader's attention to the mystery of universal forces operating within ordinary lives, and the power of individual intention: "The piano knows we will bring it home" thinks a struggling single mother at an auction. This is a superb collection of short stories by an author who uses down to earth language and everyday events to convey the depth and power of unseen forces through image, plot and character. It will appeal to readers who like a good tale well told and who who appreciate "life's chaotic splendor". August 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fine Stories,
By Joyce Harries (Edmo;nton, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Perilous Departures (Paperback)
In Perilous Departures by Margaret Macpherson, nearly every story gave me goose bumps, although for different reasons. The unusual variety of locales piqued me as well as the absolute believability of people I have not known, but now feel I do. This is quite astonishing. My favorite stories were Raising Cade, The Chinese and Going Down. I loved this book.Joyce Harries
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Tales Well Told,
By Marshall McLuhan - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Perilous Departures (Paperback)
Margaret Macpherson's debut collection of short stories are works of concentrated symbol and grace. The most striking feature of these stories is the holographic nature of the writing: plot, symbol, dialogue and character all move the story forward while also containing the story within themselves. In "Potted Palm", a Native felon from the local jail spends Christmas with a family. Reflecting the uneasy race relations between whites and Natives, the children are fascinated and frightened by their visitor, having convinced themselves he is is murderer. When they work up the courage to ask him what prison is like, he replies "Prison can live in your head, but light lives in your heart". In "Autumn Fields", a baby buggy tossed into a dump miraculously unfolds "spinning its wheels in midair . . . It hangs suspended, beautiful and terrible" seconds before it is crushed by a large mechanical arm. The image captures the blossoming and abrupt transitions of motherhood. Margaret Macpherson has kneaded her stories so the essential elements leaven each other. Her tales are satisfying and unexpectedly moving.Among her many strengths, Margaret Macpherson has an ear for the rhythm of language: "Nice, but nice for someone else", "Jimmy the Wind", "quips and quizzles". She is unsentimental about the passions motherhood: a son is out past his curfew and his anxious mother vacillates between tenderness ("If he comes now, I will let him sleep late") and outrage ("I will kill him"). The author is a shrewd observer of power games between the sexes: a flag girl takes off her cap to let "her hair fall to her shoulders, reminding everyone she was not only female, but THE female". Macpherson's humor is a strong force in the book: a child in Disneyland reflects "Minnie might have a gun in her red purse. You have to be careful around Americans . . ." A minor drawback of the book is the occasional small flaw in diction, noticeable only because the writing is otherwise so seamless. One theme in the stories is life in the North. "There are only two seasons in the North. One is the season of light and the other is the season of darkness". The stories describe how the immensity of the northern landscape and the brutality of its climate make a permanent imprint on the feelings and the symbol system of its inhabitants. Another theme in the book is young girls coming of age. Sexuality is by turns danger, currency and new territory to discover. A young girl tells a scientist in an asbestos suit "I wanted to find out for myself. I was supposed to be keeping people away, but nobody told me from what." The domestic dramas of family life are also explored: "The worst rows we had, Mike and I, were about the baby." The language of these stories is pruned and plain; the subject matter is deceptively commonplace. A woman considers making a will. A high school girl observes a chubby friend fall in love. However, Macpherson understands how ordinary things shimmer with extraordinary meaning: "the X (in the name Alexis) is stitched in black beads like a secret mark on a treasure map". A blue glass plate "captures the morning sun" and draws a messenger to the house. The stories are structured to bring the reader's attention to the mystery of universal forces operating within ordinary lives, and the power of individual intention: "The piano knows we will bring it home" thinks a struggling single mother at an auction. This is a superb collection of short stories by an author who uses down to earth language and everyday events to convey the depth and power of unseen forces through image, plot and character. It will appeal to readers who like a good tale well told and who who appreciate "life's chaotic splendor". August 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Adventures,
By M. Brooker - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Perilous Departures (Paperback)
In Perilous Departures Margaret Macpherson invites you into her stories to live the lives of her characters along with them. She takes you with her into her beloved North where days are long - both winter and summer- and experiences grow out of the uniqueness, necessity and excitement of the north. You can't help but enjoy Perilous Departures. I certainly did.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fine Stories,
By Joyce Harries - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Perilous Departures (Paperback)
In Perilous Departures by Margaret Macpherson, nearly every story gave me goose bumps, although for different reasons. The unusual variety of locales piqued me as well as the absolute believability of people I have not known, but now feel I do. This is quite astonishing. My favorite stories were Raising Cade, The Chinese and Going Down. I loved this book.Joyce Harries |
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