GLASSES, WALLET, KEYS

A brief collection of five short stories explores universal themes from a variety of perspectives.

Williams’ debut book opens with the title tale, in which a man deals with life at home with his geriatric dog in the early days of the pandemic. In “Uncle Duck,” a fraught relationship between uncle and nephew becomes more complicated with a bathroom renovation. “Ludmilla This, Ludmilla That” tells of a New Yorker’s sequentially unsuccessful attempts at romance. “Bunny” jumps back to the early days of the Great Depression as a woman tries to ensure that her sister’s death is treated respectfully, at least by the local newspaper. The final work, “The Guru Had an Off Night,” returns to the present as a father and son suffer through a tedious sales pitch with appropriate skepticism. The five stories are varied in topic and style, and they demonstrate an appreciable versatility; for example, Williams experiments with a choppy, commandlike prose in the opening tale: “Stop & Shop. Short line out front. Social distance. Grim faces. Mask up, eyes down.” Other stories offer more traditional narratives and delve into familiar themes, such as masculinity, family, and connection, from different angles (“I was more comfortable as the father of a little boy than of a teenager, even less so now of a young man,” the narrator of “The Guru Had an Off Night” muses), offering thought-provoking and challenging interpretations of human beings’ responsibilities toward one another. Manhattanites and those from other parts of New York state will particularly appreciate the precision of most stories’ carefully developed settings, which are full of subtle, realistic details. Some characters are less engaging than others—in particular, the protagonist of “Ludmilla” grows tedious with his expectations of reciprocated affections—but most are compelling and multilayered, offering readers plenty to ponder.

Varied, engaging, and skillfully written tales.