Michael Knight (2) (1969–)

There are certain anomalies surrounding the marketing descriptions of this book. Looking at it in the book store one might be intrigued by the ideas of ghosts, girls school, pregnant teenager, and even the historical backstory of Disney’s proposed American History related theme park, expecting a coming of age, YA, gothic confection of a story. And if this is the reader’s expectation, he or she may be surprised to find a literary novel which takes place in a girl’s school at a show more particular point in history, but which is really about the threads of history and how they shape and haunt our lives. Everyone in this story is haunted, often in ways they do not realize, both young and old, haunted by personal history, by the history of others, and how this history shapes day to day interactions without being understood, and even the larger forces, history of a place, of a culture. Michael Knight’s elegant spare prose and lack of sentimentality bring strength to this tale of how history flows around us, of a girl attempting to keep herself together, of the meeting of fears and expectations, and the way growth and change, often slip in when we aren’t really paying attention.

I enjoyed this book intellectually, enjoyed reading it more the further I got into it, but in the end, this reader never found herself fully engaged with the characters. Hence only a three-star rating. show less

Michael Knight’s most recent short story collection has everything I love in short stories (and nothing that I don’t). The connection among the stories is loose: they all take place in Alabama (hence the cover), and all explore relationships. Otherwise, they are each their own self-contained beautiful story. With only seven stories in this collection, there is not a dud in the bunch. Two of my favorites: “Smash and Grab” is a startling story of a burglary gone wrong --for the thief, show more that is. And, “Water and Oil” introduces us to a young man who worries about an incoming oil spill, but whose attention is distracted by his attraction to a local waitress. The stories are of varying lengths (another plus in my book) and are full of economical but rich characterization. Highly recommended.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks! show less

This book is a fantastic collection of short stories beating with the pulse of a place close to my heart, Mobile Bay. The stories don't punch like, say, Flannery O'Connor's would, but they drift dreamily into one another while telling the secrets of those living "lives of quiet desperation." A melancholy mood persists throughout almost the whole collection, maybe at times just wistfulness, but that feeling is strongly countered by adaptation and survival. I heartily recommend this book to show more ease through in the coming, creeping longer evenings of the spring and summer. show less

This story of a young GI typist in occupied Japan just after the war is written beautifully, and Knight creates characters and situations seemingly without effort. He puts historical figures (General MacArthur, MacArthur's son) on the page in such a way that I believe they may have acted this way, done these things, and makes me forget to care that they almost certainly did not. But the novel feels curiously flat, as if nothing that happens to the narrator actually means very much, though show more the things that happen appear significant and the narrator identifies them as such. (I was reminded of Peter Ho Davies's The Welsh Girl, which, though ultimately a very different sort of a book, does some of the same things and has this same curious near-brilliance while failing to be terribly compelling). In the end, I felt I surely must have missed something (in particular, it seemed that a revelation had been promised about a certain incident on a train), and I flipped back looking for the moment that would make it all gel. I didn't find it. I'm still not convinced that this isn't my fault. Guardedly recommended; recommended because the writing here and Knight as a writer generally deserve the recommendation (and because if someone else sees what I missed, this could be a wonderful read), guardedly because the book just wasn't as good as I thought it would be. show less