A review by jnzllwgr
The Wilds by Julia Elliott

4.0

Found this collection of short stories looking for similar things that I have been reading. While I was disappointed at how different it was in terms of subject matter, it was a nice change of pace and a worthwhile discovery of an southern writer in my own backyard (Elliott is a professor at USC, in Columbia. SC). I went to undergrad at Clemson, and spent 12 months living in and around Columbia, so I was highly motivated to feel the vibes! While the psychogeography of Cackalacky doesn’t dominate the narratives, they do play a small role in building some atmosphere. I’d say Nick Cave’s work like When the Ass Saw the Angel is more Southern Gothic than this; perhaps even as a caricature. Elliott however mixes Southern lit themes with a bit of speculative fiction along with really good fictional narratives. What I really came away with was laughter. Elliott’s offers a wry turns of phrase and on-point cultural footnotes folded in with some real tenderness of the human condition. Knowing she completed her MFA at Penn State in 1996 only confirms she’s a generational peer and I appreciated the Gen X sensibilities that wash pleasantly over each of these stories. Not sure which one was my favorite, but I think I would pick the one called ‘Organisms’ which is about the outbreak that hospitalizes series of teens in comas, possibly due the leaping of a rat/cat pathogen. Believe it or not, it’s a humorous take through the eyes of some colorful characters while feeling very current affairs-ish.