Speaking with the Angel [Paperback]

I bought this book trusting that Nick Hornby would be sure to solicit stories from writers of a high calibre. He was the only one of the group that I had actually read before. I usually read literature that is at least 50 years old but more likely 100 or 200 years old -authors such as Tolstoy, Henry James, H.G. Wells, Balzac, Hawthorne, Mann, etc. But I get a craving for something contemporary every once in a while. Well, the first three stories were fine. They were certainly not deep stories but they were entertaining and well written (the authors were Robert Harris, Melissa Bank, and Giles Smith). I thought, if this keeps up I will be able to recommend this book. The next three stories however (by Patrick Marber, Colin Firth, and Zadie Smith) were abysmal duds. Still, three out of six in a collection of new stories is not bad. The seventh story was "NippleJesus" by Nick Hornby and it was good. But that was the last good one in the book. The efforts by Dave Eggers, Helen Fielding, Roddy Doyle, Irvine Welsh, and John O'Farrell were execrable latrine scrapings. Who told those people they could write? These are the sort of stories you might expect from a sneering junior highschool detention class. It is not surprising that the point of view of many of the dud stories in this collection is that of a child or adolescent. These writers (and I use that term loosely) are suffering from arrested development. Some of the profits from the sale of this book go to a worthy cause (schools for autistic children). If you want to do a good deed, donate some money to a similar school in your area, but don't buy this book -these people should not be encouraged in any way. Oh well, I think I'll start "The House of the Seven Gables" now. Old literature has successfully passed through the filter of time. The chaff in this Hornby collection will not be around in 10 years much less a hundred.

I think Nick Hornby is the coolest writer in the World today. This compilation was a way for me to find out other writers who are as cool as Nick. I wasn't disappointed. Here is my review of the short stories:

PMQ: Wonderful comedy piece about a Prime Minister's wild night out.

The Wonder Spot: Kind of too "New York Hipster" for me, but still a nice read.

Last Request: Great story. Mix of a serious topic with a light point of view.

Peter Shelley: Funny story about a boy losing his virginity. My favorite story in the book.

The Department of Nothing: Not bad, but a bit too sentimental for the tone of the book. This was my least favorite story. I wouldn't say Colin Firth should keep his day job, but hey, his day job is awesome.

I'm the Only One: Very short and a bit unsatisfying story about a kid's getting a visit from a super-tall friend. I still liked it.

NippleJesus: My second favorite story. A blue-collar man (a bodyguard) who admires an artsy-fartsy museum piece. Really funny.

After I was Thrown in The River...: I particularly didn't care much for this dog. My second least favorite.

LuckyBitch and The Slave: Both are about middle aged people. One seen from a woman's point of view and other from a man's. Both are equally a riot.

Catholic Guilt: My third favorite story, and being from Irvine Welsh, is also the edgiest. A homophobic hooligan gets his afterlife punishment. Simply hilarious.

Walking into the Wind: Just when I thought I couldn't laugh any harder comes this story about a mime to finish it off.

With "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy" as two of my favorite books, it was Hornby's name that drew me to this anthology, though the other contributing authors are certainly not unrecognized.

I enjoyed each of this book's twelve stories, but a few in particular stood out. Hornby's "Nipple Jesus" was my favorite. In it, a security guard charged with protecting a controversial work of art - a beautiful depiction of the crucifiction that, upon close inspection, is seen to be composed of a collage of pornographic photos - wrestles with questions of whether or not the piece is really art and whether or not he really wants to guard it. The story forced me to examine similar questions as to what I felt constituted art. I was left thinking that it would have made a great bit of reading for a Philosophy of Art class.

Other memorable stories were "Last Requests" by Giles Smith, in which a prison cook ruminates upon preparing last meals for death row inmates; "The Slave" by Roddy Doyle, in which a man tries to slowly ween himself from paranoia after nearly stepping on the carcass of a giant rat in front of his refrigerator; and "Catholic Guilt" by Irvine Welsh, where a man gets his just deserves for beating a homosexual. Each of these stories went beyond merely providing entertainment, and led me to think as well.

Oddly enough, the least enjoyable stories were the first and the last in the collection - "PMQ" from Robbert Harris and "Walking into the Wind" from John O'Farrell. It's not that these two were poor entries - they were both solidly readable - they just didn't seem to have the zing of the other selections.

But with that small detraction as my biggest complaint, I have no hesitation in recommending "Speaking With the Angel." It's perfect for digesting in 20-minute doses, providing a dozen opportunities to, at least, briefly escape and, at best, to make you think.