20 Under 40 : Stories From The New Yorker / Edited By Deborah Treisman

In 2010, the editors of the New Yorker magazine selected twenty authors under forty years of age recently featured in its publication that they thought would emerge as writers influencing the next decade.  Reading this book in 2022, I see that only a handful of authors included who have indeed emerged as forces to be reckoned with.  These include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Joshua Ferris, Jonathan Safran Foer, Tea Obreht, and Gary Shtyngart.

The list is restricted to authors based in North America, but a good many of them are children of immigrants who landed on our shores over the course of the twentieth century.  Their input adds an international spice that culturally broadens the scope of this compilation.  For the most part, the chosen works are indeed worthy of inclusion.  Even if many of the featured writers fell short of dominating today’s literary landscape, their stories still are first class.

Skunk Cabbage

An hour before dawn
with the moon’s flashlight extinguished,
the men and beasts
of the zodiac have enlarged above.
Three days of gentle
persuasion from a southerly breeze
has worked to loosen
this creek’s tight overcoat of ice.
The sound of its
rushing waters is again amplified.
Unbeknownst to those
still fast asleep beneath heavy quilts,
March has finally begun
to whisper sweet nothings aloud
into listening ears.
Awakened by the creek’s exuberance,
recklessly pushing aside
blanketing snow, the first to respond,
a skunk cabbage blossoms.

The Good Soldier Švejk / Jaroslav Hašek

In this novel written by Czech writer and anarchist Jaroslav Hašek following World War I, he has created a rambling satire, which humorously presents one soldier’s attempt to prevent himself from becoming a casualty.  Casting himself as an eager recruit, Švejk’s bumbling attempts to reach the front lines cleverly prevent his arrival.  He is represented as the lower class’s Everyman who presents himself as an idiot to keep himself safe.  Good-natured and garrulous, he cunningly manipulates the military’s bureaucracy to insure he survives the conflict.

An uncompleted novel, the death of the author in 1923 left Švejk’s eventual fate untold.  Even so, the bulk of the novel still satisfies.  Throughout, Švejk is a character the reader delights to spend time with, but it is the cast of the other soldiers he interacts with that colorfully describe the futility of war and the patriotic forces fueling it.  At times, portions of the novel seem more a lecture than a true description of actual events on the ground, but in the end this satire remains a masterpiece presenting the thoughts and actions of a solider whose loyalty to self comes first.

In Unison

When did I first begin to
acknowledge my name
and assume the personality
of its two syllables?

Or was it the other way around,
did it decide
beforehand that it was me?

Clinched tight,
it refused to let go despite
shortening or changing.

Was I the one who finally chose
or did it insist?
Having traveled so far together,
neither of us is sure.

But bound and hardened,
when addressed
we now answer in unison.

Discounted

October has discounted
summer’s inflated price tag,
with a cooler breeze
declaring everything must go.
Seen in the right light,
the merchandise looks golden,
barely used at all.
But this isn’t such a morning.
Somebody forgot to
nail down the carpet of leaves.
Overhead, thinning trees
again reveal telephone wires.
The sun is throwing
off the heat of a 40 watt bulb.
Above the cloud cover,
an exodus on a blue highway.
Collar up, my hands
seeking warmth are pocketed.
Walking through this
warehouse of discarded parts,
I’m not buying any of it.

A Childhood / Harry Crews

In this 1978 memoir, Harry Crews recreates his childhood in southern Georgia during America’s 1930s Depression.  As he points out, this was a part of the country where depression was already a fact of life long before the entire country’s economy took such a major downturn.  This memoir recreates the first ten years of his life.  During this period, Crews suffered a bout of polio, and he was later seriously burned after being unintentionally flung into a vat of boiling water while taking part in the processing of slaughtered hogs.

The book provides an insight into the author’s writings as an adult.  He creates a vivid picture of a world in which surviving from one season to the next required back-breaking labor plus the additional ingredient of good luck to pay the bills and keep meager meals on the table.  He highlights the importance of one’s relatives lending their support, as well as the help of the community to ensure survival when a failed harvest presented the possibility of starvation.  

While Crews’ personal story will surely keep the reader riveted, it is the description of the other people he encountered during his childhood that make this memoir so special.  The book is populated with a cast of characters lost to time.  They might not today be considered politically correct, but their strong personalities delight nonetheless.  This memoir is a recreation of the author’s growing awareness of self, crafted by poverty’s harsh lessons and the importance of community to aid in his family’s survival.  Even if times were tough, Crews lovingly recreates his childhood despite a Depression that challenged daily existence.

Curtained

Unsupervised for the entire night,
how alien the familiar seems.
The trees somehow erased by chalk.
Surrounding houses muffled
to a mere suggestion of definition.
Turned plow, a passing car’s
headlights barely carve a furrow.
With birds huddled in
a blanketing silence, an insistent
clock suddenly dominates.
If you’d take five steps out the door
and in dawn’s heavy coat
turn around, a lamp’s light is lost.
Discreetly curtained,
earth and sky contentedly blend.

A Life’s Work : On Becoming A Mother / Rachel Cusk

In this book published in 2001, Rachel Cusk provides a detailed account of the difficulties a first time mother encounters in pregnancy and during the first year of her child’s life.  It focuses on Cusk’s own transition from an independent young woman to adjusting to the birth of her first child.  While still recognizing the wonders of childbirth, its price is fully acknowledged. While some readers might consider it an indictment of the cost of parenthood, I found it an honest account of its travails while including the strong bond that forms between a mother and her child.

Topics discussed are ones familiar to any new parent.  Colic, sleep deprivation, the demands of breastfeeding, and the adjustment needed to move from an independent being to someone responsible for another’s life.  Throughout her pregnancy and following the birth of her child, Cusk is flooded with bureaucratic pamphlets and books that discount the mixed feelings she experiences on becoming a mother.  This account is sure to resonate with mothers and with women who find themselves pregnant for the first time.

While it is a serious discussion of the impact of pregnancy and motherhood, Cusk’s accounts weave humor throughout the book.  It is a story that all can find an interest in, but its primary audience is likely to be mothers who have already traveled a mile in her shoes and who can identify with her.

Moon Cycling (2)

Frosting our bedroom,
moonlight again whisks away
humidity’s weight

Umbrella needed—
a haloed moon presenting
tomorrow’s forecast

Under this full moon,
fortunate the drunk tonight
with double vision

Friendships found and lost,
the moon alone returns to
provide fellowship

A full night of dreams
paying no heed to moonlight,
guided nonetheless

Icing on the cake,
tonight’s slice of moon dessert
no matter its size