GOING IT ALONE: TALES TOO TALL TO DOUBT OR IGNORE

Characters struggle in their everyday lives in Bobb’s debut collection of eight short stories.

In the novella-length “Agnes and Tommy,” Agnes barely makes ends meet while working two jobs and caring for her sickly son. But it’s her country club waitressing gig that triggers the most stress thanks to ever hounding bartender Victor. One day she finally tells off Victor, with unforeseen consequences. One of those happens to be Tommy, the charismatic new bartender who may prod a reticent Agnes into bettering her life. Other tales showcase similar people, who are alone by choice or circumstance. Carrie, in “By the Rivers of Babylon, There She Wept,” is a writer in need of inspiration for her second novel. But as she wanders a village’s main street, locals practically ostracize the out-of-towner, as she’s “perhaps a bit bizarre.” Seemingly ordinary folk, up against familiar dilemmas or hardships, populate this collection. There’s a man who’s just lost his beloved mother, Martha, and an on-again, off-again couple who, despite endless bickering, show obvious affection and even talk of marriage. The tales in this book, even with their share of bullies and discontents, are typically buoyant. In “Deus ex Machina,” a library assigns “unofficial archivist” Henry the task of recording a theater company’s history. While there’s a wealth of “dirt,” from conspiracies to character assassinations and back-stabbings, Henry laments that his assignment demands he forgo all of that for standard promotional fare. Bobb writes in a sharp, lyrical prose style: “The ladies descended exuberantly down the slope while a balmy sea breeze caressed their wizened faces like a precious ointment, a briny myrrh.” The drawback is that the voice is so strong that it renders the cast’s assorted narrations and dialogue indistinguishable across the eight stories. The distinctions exist instead among the absorbing individual plots and their sometimes unexpected outcomes.

Engaging tales show unassuming people facing unavoidable plights.