Rick's review of The Night in Question: Stories
The Night in Question: Stories by Tobias Wolff
Excellent short story collection from 1999. Wolff’s stories are in the tradition of Chekov and Hemingway, glimpses of real people at moments of crisis. In “Chain” the story’s title links two meanings of the word, a metal restraining device and a sequence of events, both of which prove to have too much slack for safety’s sake. In “Bullet to the Brain” a literary critic who happens to be on a teller’s line when a bank is robbed can’t suppress his reflexive scorn for clichés and the results are captured in the story’s title, though the surprise is the victim’s final thoughts, a deft management of craft that pushes the story from low comedy to rich drama. Throughout, Wolff’s ear and his commanding prose hook the reader into the private worlds we are privileged to eavesdrop on. War stories, stories of academia, and coming of age stories, all inspired and true to life.
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