A Collection of Collections, Part II

[bibliogramma]

Say You're One of Them, Uwem Akpan

This collection of short stories and novellas by Nigerian writer and Jesuit priest Uwem Akpan is a stark and relentless look at the issues of poverty, disease and sectarian violence in modern Africa. Akpan has chosen as his central characters (protagonist smacks of too much agency) in these five pieces children caught up in genocidal violence, child slavery, poverty, prostitution - children who have seen too much to be wholly innocent, though they may not always comprehend the worst that can still befall them. Painful to read, and haunting.



Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, Vincent Lam

A suite of interlocking short stories that follow the work and personal lives of four doctors, Lam's debut work is enriched by his own experiences as a physician. The medical aspects of these stories are familiar from countless television shows, but what Lam excels at is showing us the souls of both doctors and patients, the damage caused by both the powerlessness of being ill or injured, and the power of being the only one who might be able to help.



Peter S. Beagle, Sleight of Hand

Beagle is a master of the short story form. And a master of the fantasy genre. But you all knew that, right?

This is a collection of new and previously published stories. Some of them are merely good; the rest are hauntingly wonderful. My favourites were: Vanishing, a different kind of ghost story set on the Berlin Wall; Dirae, about a warrior-protector of the weak whose strength comes at a tragic price; the Rabbi's Hobby, about the quest of a rabbi and his young bar mitzvah student to discover the person behind an unusual cover model's face; and Children of the Shark God, about two youths who set out to find their mysterious father. In varied and sometimes surprising ways, the stories in this collection offer meditations on family and friendship, courage, loyalty and love, as told by a master of the art of portraying the human soul.