Seth Johnson

Seth Johnson's collection of short stories is a quick, contemplative exploration of the internal shortcomings we leave hidden. At times bordering on the cliche, but nevertheless all too real, the characters and their situations revolve around the fissures and emptiness within our own lives. The loosely interconnected narratives are quiet, detailing the inner struggles of the characters as they mine their memories and search for reasoning as to why they're present situations. The tonality is show more dark, somewhat cynical, and ultimately terse. Johnson chronicles these people's lives with beauty and sadness, yet never attempts toward a resolution. My largest criticism is that despite the characters appearing in multiple stories or as POVs, their personalities and nuances are never truly explored. They operate more as stand-ins for ourselves or loose stereotypes of people we undoubtedly know. show less

A smart, interconnected collection of short stories set in Kentucky about various middle class and lower class people. The main link is the relationship between Nick and Ashley, a young couple that we see in the early stages of their relationship through their marriage and the subsequent issues within the marriage. Dogs figure prominently in many of the stories. Stories alternate from third person to first person. This will sound like a criticism, but it isn't intended to be: the stories show more read as if they were written for an MFA program or for publication in a literary journal. There is a tendency for the endings to be a bit vague and for things to not wrap up entirely. Or there is an obliqueness that I wonder how much am I supposed to assume about the characters. The standout for me is "You Heard Nothing?" told from the perspective of a woman whose husband comes home to tell her that there has been a shooting at his workplace. Although he isn't affected in any way, the wife is disturbed by the incident. show less

This slim little volume of short stories grew on me once I started recognizing characters from story to story. At first they seemed a little too pretentious and ambiguous. It seemed all the characters were baffled by themselves and each other and there were all these dogs running around. But then the stories became intertwined, and I recognized characters from each of the stories and even liked some of them. Toward the end there weren't so many dogs. (Wondered what the heck happened to sweet show more Belle. Where was she?) I loved the cat story at the end. I loved the familiarity of the place. Lots of good Kentucky details and horses and booze. In general, I will look forward to more stories by Seth Johnson. This seems a good first start. show less

The stories of marginalized mid-management, blue-collar-types and Gen-X losers found in Seth Johnson's collection THE THINGS WE DO FOR WOMEN are, for the most part, amateurish and largely pointless. Filled with awkward constructions, non sequiturs and horrible, unnatural dialogue, they often simply stop without any recognizable conclusion. I confess I only read six of the twelve stories but that was plenty. I'd had enough. There are too many good stories being written today to waste time on show more bad ones. Not recommended. show less