THERE IS NO DEATH IN FINDING NEMO

Seemingly simple lives are full of surprises in Feingold’s collection of short stories.

Music student Dakota, in the opening title story, ignores her sister’s warning about her too-fast relationship. She moves in with Zayden, a real estate developer who certainly seems like an ambitious, responsible older man, after just a few dates. Things change drastically after Dakota unearths what’s hiding in her boyfriend’s home office. Similarly, in “Avram's Miracle,” hopeful new business partners tour the world’s biggest matzah bakery, which is in Cincinnati. They’re gunning for “worldwide matzah domination” but are unexpectedly taken aback by apprentice baker Avram’s invention. This impressive device may be able to feed masses for free, but is that really what these food industrialists want? Many readers will relate to the lives of those in the seven tales herein: an aging man pining for youth in “The Mirror” and a woman long denying her own very real mental condition in“The Loneliest Number.” Still, surreal moments intermittently crop up. In “The Box,” for example, a stranger hands the titular item to art professor Francine, who’s sitting alone at a restaurant. “For happiness,” the nameless woman tells her before quickly departing. The wooden box’s glass top periodically glows with pictures of people with whom Francine has recently conversed, but she’s not immediately clear why it does so. This story, like the others, showcases the effects of unpredictable happenings on everyday lives.

Feingold develops a series of sublime characters in these tales. Irina in “The Loneliest Number,” for instance, regularly sees a therapist but, for at least a couple of years, preferred that her doctor never mention her diagnosed bipolar disorder; Irina is also a classical pianist who sees colors in music and calms herself down by running through names of dead celebrity women who also suffered from bipolar disorder. Religion, especially Judaism, is a common theme that further grounds the stories in real life; in “Rich Girl,” accountant David, for example, belongs to a Jewish family that’s becoming less devout with each passing generation. A few characters pop up in more than one tale, including zany wife and husband Mary and Phil. As a supporting character, Mary offers telephonic advice to one of her sisters while simultaneously dominating an argument with her mostly ineffectual spouse. They lead their own story in the collection’s last and shortest offering, “There Is No Death in Finding Nemo,” which finds them in their weirdest squabble yet. Feingold’s concise prose generates succinct narratives and vivid images; Francine even sees memorable sights on a dating app, such as a “grizzled man in a plaid flannel shirt, sitting on the hood of his red pickup truck, flashing a yellow smile.” Other narrative details are often clever or playful, as when David goes to see his grandfather, who has dementia, in a Boston nursing home; their dialogue is intercut with a movie playing on TV—effectively fostering the impression that Rock Hudson and Doris Day are part of the conversation.

Sometimes-profound tales featuring colorful imagery and accessible characters.