The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit (Made in Michigan)

It’s nice to read short stories that have a cohesive sense of place. The varied situations described by Michael Zadoorian in The Tiki Palaces of Detroit show a genuine affection for his hometown of Detroit. A few of the stories in this collection seemed reminiscent of Zadoorian’s first novel, Second Hand, and one story was very much like his second novel, The Leisure Seeker. Nevertheless, all made for delightful reading.

Most of the stories were not about the better things in life as Detroit surely has seen some hard times. The author, however, pulled from his experiences in his city and brought its characters to life. I was amused by “The World of Things”, a story in which a man goes through his recently deceased mother’s show more remaining belongings and decides what to keep and what to throw away. For a person who loves vintage objects, it was just as hard for me as for the protagonist and the author to decide the answer to this question.

The funniest story by far was “East Side”. In it, a man passes a wig shop and vicariously tries on wigs by shifting his head around so his head’s reflection in the store window is more or less “attached” to different wigs on display. This very short story had me laughing out loud by the time it ended.

My favorite story was “War Marks”. Here, a former GI decided that he must return a Japanese flag to the family of a man he killed during World War II. Beautiful and touching, that story left me just a bit sad but rewarded as the ending seemed just right.

Not yet well known but on his way, Zadoorian has released a collection of stories that are both fun to read and worth exploring if only for his mischievous sense of humor and his deep sentimentality. show less

What a wonderful collection of short stories! You don't have to be from the Detroit area to appreciate them (although since I was born in Detroit and grew up in the suburbs, I loved revisiting people and places from my past). Zadoorian is one of those writers who can take readers deep into the hearts and minds of his characters while remaining subtle. Many of the stories center around loss: lost chances, lost things, lost love, lost parents. But there's a lot of humor here, too. In short, these are very human stories about very real people just trying to get by. For me, this one's a keeper.

Deborah (Cariola) passed this book to me a year ago?! As long as it took me to read this book, you couldn't guess how much I really liked every one of the stories in it. Maybe I was trying to stretch it out and make it last? I did want to start over as soon as I'd finally finished the last story. Loved the collection a lot, and highly recommend it. Especially, I suppose, to people like me who don't get the chance to read as often as they'd like.

Probabilmente Z. ha pochi emuli nel parlare e descrivere il mondo dei vecchi, e delle cose andate, e la maturita'. Ricordo qualcosa di simile in un vecchio libro di Sandra Petrignani, Vecchi, e nell'intramontabile Diario di Jane Somers, di Doris Lessing.
Qui, Discinesia è qualcosa. Nonche' il racconto che da' il titolo all'edizione originale. Altri pezzi sono invece superati dai due romanzi lunghi, giustappunto insuperati. Ci sono comunque gioie di scritti che Carver e sopratutto Brautigan non riescono ad eguagliare.
Qui un amplissimo estratto dell'edizione originale
http://tinyurl.com/y8m7vly

Short stories.