In the Garden of the North American Martyrs: Stories

Fighting Misogyny with Racism?

This is a very short story from a clearly talented and lauded author about a woman going to interview for a job at a college as a concession to their statute about at least interviewing women. When she discovers she never had an actual chance at the job she goes off script in her guest lecture, going on a racist and unsubstantiated tirade about the torture and murder of a preacher by the Native American people whose stolen land the college is on. Like, I'm all the way in for sticking it to the man and highlighting the plight of anyone in academia who isn't a cishet white man, but an (assumed) white woman going on a demonising and felacious rant about what I understand to be a confederacy of multiple tribal show more nations as if they are one inhuman people is not the way to go about it. Honestly, it feels like she basically did the thing the Kramer guy did -- going on an abhorrent outburst of racism because of a perceived wrong.

I just...don't know about this one folx. It's bad to be a sexist POS, but being racist or bigoted in any other way is also absolutely unacceptable, and suffering one kind of discrimination doesn't give you the right to do that to another group, regardless of intersections. It makes a mockery of what seemed to be the point of the story, and the way her lecture is handled and how it abruptly ends feels triumphant for her, so it doesn't seem to be making any commentary on how those who lack certain privilege still discriminate those who have equal or less privilege.

Am I way off here? No one else seems to have really addressed this issue, beyond one review saying she says some 'un PC stuff'. Maybe this is a case of this being the first thing of this author I've read and many others already being spellbound by his other work? I don't know. show less

Tobias Wolff's first collection is an excellent and diverse mix of stories that all hit their mark in different ways. Whether it's an old couple who's love has been lost/never rendered in "Maiden Voyage" or a man navigating his sense of judgement in "An Episode in the Life of Professor Brooke" Wolff approaches his characters with grace, humor, and honesty. What's really pleasing is the sense of completeness with each of these stories and the moment of turning, where you are wracked with the craftsmanship of a truly wonderful storyteller, in each and every piece.

In this case, the rating answers the question "Did you like it?" rather than "Is it good?" There's a difference; Wolff is a very good writer and these are skillfully written stories, but I found them depressing and overall less than enjoyable to read. That's not to say I wouldn't read something else by Wolff.

This is a great collection of short stories. They vary in length, topic and tone, but all of them have an almost pungent insight into a character's experience of life. They are extremely relatable, and genuinely interesting.

I had read "Hunters in the Snow" in high school, and had found it, along with a classic Wolff story not in this volume ("Bullet in the Brain") to be among the most memorable short stories I had ever read. It's still a chilling, bizarre story. Other stories take us all over North America, from Army recruits preparing for Viet Nam to prep school boys jockeying for social status, from old married couples to ossified professors. The story that took this from four to five stars though, just five minutes ago as I finished, show more was the last story, "The Liar". I say with no exaggeration that that story was worth the price of the entire book in humor, bizarre truth, and picayune beauty. show less

As with any collection of stories, some appealed more than others. However, all the characters are vividly drawn and are each put in situations in which there is a moral dilemma, some with more serious consequences than others. How they will meet these dilemmas becomes the question.

I liked several stories in this volume. But the title story, In the Garden of the North American Martyrs, is the one I liked the best. Mary, a history professor, loses her job when her college closes. Although she finds another job, she must move to Portland Oregon. The weather there is wet and rainy, and though she is happy to work, she is unhappy there. An old colleague contacts her about a job in upstate New York and her application results in an show more interview, where she discovers a deception. Her dilemma involves how to handle the attitude of the colleague and the search committee. She resolves it with panache and has the last laugh! show less

I'm not really a short story fan, but this was recommended to me by a colleague and I really liked most of the stories; especially the one about the college professor! 192 pages

LOVED the last story, 'The Liar'!
Contents: Next Door, Hunters in the Snow, An Episode in the Life of Professor Brooke, Smokers, Face to Face, Passengers, Maiden Voyage, Worldly Goods, Wingfield, In the Garden of the North American Martyrs, Poaching, Liars