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A review by rainierbooks
Catapult by Emily Fridlund, Ben Marcus
4.0
"I'm pretending to love God because I really love her, and isn't that good? Isn't that good enough?"
Most, if not all of the eleven stories in Emily Fridlund's collection are situated in her native Minnesota where even her brilliant first novel [b:History of Wolves|30183198|History of Wolves|Emily Fridlund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476987308l/30183198._SY75_.jpg|50627306] is set. Her characters are multi-layered and complicated. "Old House" is about Michael and his much older lover Liv who live together with other students in Mrs. Crubin's house, an old lady who gets sick and finally reduced to her bed after a set of strokes. "Marco Polo" sees main character Mason and his Asian American wife A in a relationship that finally folds when the husband gets violent. "Lock Jaw" has a family in its focus that has found a Bullmastiff stray dog that attacks people and finally makes the whole family afraid of her. Fridlund builds her stories carefully, yes, masterfully, leaving much unsaid but forcing you as a reader to fill in the gaps. After having read both of her published books, I see her as a very important and beautiful voice on contemporary American fiction.
Most, if not all of the eleven stories in Emily Fridlund's collection are situated in her native Minnesota where even her brilliant first novel [b:History of Wolves|30183198|History of Wolves|Emily Fridlund|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476987308l/30183198._SY75_.jpg|50627306] is set. Her characters are multi-layered and complicated. "Old House" is about Michael and his much older lover Liv who live together with other students in Mrs. Crubin's house, an old lady who gets sick and finally reduced to her bed after a set of strokes. "Marco Polo" sees main character Mason and his Asian American wife A in a relationship that finally folds when the husband gets violent. "Lock Jaw" has a family in its focus that has found a Bullmastiff stray dog that attacks people and finally makes the whole family afraid of her. Fridlund builds her stories carefully, yes, masterfully, leaving much unsaid but forcing you as a reader to fill in the gaps. After having read both of her published books, I see her as a very important and beautiful voice on contemporary American fiction.