Precarious: Stories of Love, Sex, and Misunderstanding
Author
Al Riske
Publisher
Luminis Books
No Review Copies Left
Written by award-winning writer Al Riske, Precarious is an exquisite collection of 15 short stories. In these fifteen stories, which includes “Pray for Rain,” winner of the Blue Mesa Review 2008 Fiction Prize, Riske explores an endlessly fascinating subject: women and men and the conflicts that inevitably arise between them. Through these richly-drawn and provocative stories, Riske introduces an incredible cast of characters—those who love, who lust, who stay, who run—all incredibly flawed, and intensely human. Meet a boy trying to make it through that summer between the end of high school and the start of something else. An ousted pastor who paints houses. A girl so alive you can feel her heartbeat from half a mile away. A woman attracted to a man with muscles, because it makes her feel safe … until it doesn't. A man who can only imagine—and does imagine—what it's like to sleep with many different women. Exploring themes of love and lust, hope and hopelessness, longing and loss, the stories in Precarious are about doing the right thing and regretting it. About men who are still boys. About making bets and dancing naked. About decisions, risks, impulses, and consequences. About gender roles and power struggles, instant gratification and long-term happiness, and dreams and compromises. The stories play out in a diverse array of settings—from rain-soaked Seattle to a desert filled with light, heat, and sand; from the front seat of Mom's Malibu to a vacation cabin on Cape Cod; from a bookstore to a tiny island. With a keen eye for detail and prose that is alternately sparse and lyrical, Riskeprobes the complexity of relationships—the failed, the familiar, the broken, the burgeoning, the possible, the impossible, the real, and the only imagined. According to Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Pay It Forward, "The art of the short story is alive and well in the hands of Al Riske, who understands how to walk the tightrope of subtle emotional resonance.”
Reviews
Precarious is a well-crafted, page turning collection of stories hitting close to home. Many readers can relate to the intricate plots of the situations of the characters. Many of the tales are written in a way that has the reader wanting more, the before and the after of the tale, as in "Pray for Rain" I wanted more of the story, my imagination fired with different scenarios. Precarious make readers think, has readers remembering situations they may have found themselves in, or know someone who faced a similar situation. Sleeping with Smiley is one of my favorite stories, a situation very real life, very easy to imagine being there. The line between reality and fantasy is tightly woven with humor, shocks and raw sensuality in some tales. Riske tells his tales mostly from the perspective of young men, and their perplexity with the female persuasion. He gives an honest interpretation of love, sex and everything in between; from a young man contemplating ruining his friendship, to a man who got caught and is regretting it. Precarious is a book for the reader who enjoys honest writing at it’s finest.
Reviewed on 04/18/2010 by ReviewTheBook.com Member Tina Evans
