4/26/16. My book review of a wonderful book of stories.
Joseph
Epstein is a short story writer, an essayist, and from 1974 to 1998, the editor
of the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s The
American Scholar Magazine. He was a lecturer in the English department at
Northwestern University, from 1974 to 2002. When he told his mother about his
teaching job, she said, “It’s nice you got a job in the neighborhood.” He has
contributed to many magazines, and newspapers. And in his words, he thinks
outside of the lox.
He is the
author of more than 29 books on such topics as Snobbery, Envy, Friendship,
Gossip, Fred Astaire, and Alex de Tocqueville.
In his review of “Snobbery: The American
Version,” no less than William F. Buckley Jr. writes, “Epstein…is perhaps the
wittiest writer (working in his genre) alive, the funniest since Randall
Jarrell,” … who I never heard of.
Epstein’s
latest collection of twenty stories in “Frozen in Time,” describes in witty,
wise, and with effective surprise – one definition of creativity – the lives of
people caught in predicaments. It was Henry James who observed that “Life is a
predicament which precedes death.”
His stories
focus on sex, love, betrayal, aging, death, marriage, family loyalty,
con-artists, gender identity, desire, mourning, and more.
Epstein
knows that there are as many different minds as bodies on this planet. He takes
this knowledge and weaves unique stories about people we feel we have met, know
and know about. These characters seem to have digested some of the wisdom of
Francois de La Rochefoucauld, for example:
“Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers;” “We all have strength enough to endure the
misfortunes of others;” “Everyone complains about his memory, and no one
complains about his judgment.”
Epstein
writes about practical people, with perspective, passion, and humor.
The titles
of his entertaining stories are like flashy lures getting us to bite on the
first page, and not stop: “The Viagra Triangle;” “JDate;” “Adultery”; and “My
Five Husbands.”
I give
this book six stars out of five.
Steven J. Ceresnie, Ph.D.
