Officer Friendly and Other Stories

One of those short story books that you can't put down. ( )

One might surmise that after reading Lewis Robinson's collection of short stories entitled Officer Friendly and Other Stories, his setting would most invariably be located in the Pacific Northwest, perhaps in Alaska. Though no less intriguing than the storylines from the shows Twin Peaks or even Northern Exposure, the content of Robinson's stories actually take place in the surprisingly curious state of Maine.

Robinson's collection is an interesting insight just beyond the seemingly perpetual thaw of Maine, not only into local hunting or hockey cultures, but of the ever changing relationships formed in the snow, along the coast and within the forest. Often the stories deal with an emergence into adulthood, but more so the rites of passages faced by many in Maine, whatever their ages.

The stories themselves range from the creepy to the serenely cathartic, though like the weather, they're always in a state of flux hovering just around the thaw. Take for example, the stories The Diver, The Toast, and Ride ; both are increasingly unsettling to say the least, as they introduce to the reader the unfamiliar eccentricities of being foreign to the Northeast. Puckheads, Seeing the World and Fighting at Night, on the other hand, deliver a sense of fulfillment no matter what was sacrificed from each character.

One captivating attribute of the book is that as a whole, time is not necessarily linear. The setting can resemble the era of F. Scott Fitzgerald or perhaps that of last March. Whether duck hunting with one's father, evading a policeman in the snow, preparing to fight someone named Brick Chickisaw, or leaving home to fish for urchin on a whim, Robinson evokes a sense of wonder and exhilaration regardless of what era he writes. ( )

An impressive debut collection. Robinson resides in Portland, Maine, so it's not surprising that all the stories are set in that rural northeast corner. I found the stories quirky and poignant with the dominant theme being young boys' coming-of-age. The stories didn't feel redundant, even though they are all set in the town of Point Allison. I was much more satisfied with this collection than with "You Are Not a Stranger Here" by Adam Haslett, which came out around the same time and received much more hype. I'm looking forward to reading more of Robinson's work in the future. ( )