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A review by miramichijim
The Path of Most Resistance by Russell Wangersky
4.0
Russell Wangersky really excels in describing the minutiae of everyday life; relationships, in particular, which give each story a firm footing in reality. For example, in "Bide Awhile" he talks about a line that exists between Mike and Bev:
"There is a line. Every couple knows its feel, its shape, its shaggy, feral dangerous smell. Every couple flirts with it sometimes in the heat of argument or battle, sometimes they get close to touching it. The smart ones pull back, swallowing the almost said before it can burst out...But sometimes neither can give up. And lines get crossed."
The collection ends with "Heavy Load" which parallels a man's all-too-careful oversight of his job and its heavy responsibilities with his lack of such in his marriage. Project manager Robert Campbell has time to reflect on his wife's leaving as he painstakingly micro-manages the movement of a massive load down a highway to the docks in the middle of the night.
The Path of Most Resistance is a gratifying collection of short stories, some humorous ("Snow"), some startling ("Bide Awhile"), but all containing some small assertive resistance presented by otherwise unremarkable people. I enjoyed reading it to a great degree and it will find a place on my short story shelf.
"There is a line. Every couple knows its feel, its shape, its shaggy, feral dangerous smell. Every couple flirts with it sometimes in the heat of argument or battle, sometimes they get close to touching it. The smart ones pull back, swallowing the almost said before it can burst out...But sometimes neither can give up. And lines get crossed."
The collection ends with "Heavy Load" which parallels a man's all-too-careful oversight of his job and its heavy responsibilities with his lack of such in his marriage. Project manager Robert Campbell has time to reflect on his wife's leaving as he painstakingly micro-manages the movement of a massive load down a highway to the docks in the middle of the night.
The Path of Most Resistance is a gratifying collection of short stories, some humorous ("Snow"), some startling ("Bide Awhile"), but all containing some small assertive resistance presented by otherwise unremarkable people. I enjoyed reading it to a great degree and it will find a place on my short story shelf.