Ghosts of Yesterday (2003) - Jack Cady
I can't be positive, but I'm pretty sure I'd never read any Jack Cady stories before this morning. So why do I own this collection? I'm pretty sure my friend Kelly recommended it awhile back and I found it as a library discard. Looking at the story publication history, I noticed that eight of them appear in this collection for the first time, so I decided to read the first story that had been previously published, "Weird Row."
The narrator, a guy named Pork and a woman named Victoria work at a kind of book distribution center in Reno, NV. I don't know how, but in a little over seven pages, Cady managed not only to flesh out three characters I cared about, but also create a believable Reno, make me laugh, make me sad, and think about the big, big picture. It's a story full of humanity. That's just one story, but if there's even the chance that Cady can repeat that in just one of the remaining twelve stories, count me in.
The Verdict = Keep It.
Next: Werewolves in Their Youth: Stories - Michael Chabon
2 comments:
If you keep most everything, does it still count as a purge? I don't think I've even heard of Cady before. Sounds interesting.
I've actually gone ahead and purged a couple of those that I was on-the-fence about. Plus I stumbled across a couple of novels that had to go. Still I'd say the "keeps" are around 70%. Hey, it's a start....
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