The Making Sense of Things

by George Choundas

Winner of FC2’s Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize

A grand tour of the edges of our lives, where glory and significance riot against the logic of living and the pall of tragedy.

The Making Sense of Things is a collection of twelve stories that pulse with memory, magic, and myth—all our favorite ways of trying to make sense of things.

Readers are treated to vivid and unforgettable characters. A fiercely independent woman puts the man who loves her to unconscionable tests, never guessing that arson, suicide, and canine obesity will yield a magical kind of happiness. A honeymooner in Venice, addled by fever and second thoughts, commits by dumb error a double murder. A brisk lawyer founders when a car wreck claims his son and ex-wife, then discovers that the desperation of grief is a kind of hope.

208 pages, Paperback

Published March 6, 2018

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Choundas compiles an enjoyable selection of stories in this collection that touch on many of the greatest questions haunting humankind in some of the most unique ways imaginable. For example, I found myself simultaneously contemplating the meaning of life while reading about a dog urinating on it's owner's dead body before cringing at the image of woodpecker gouging out a bully's eyes, leading me to wonder about the concept of karma. Choundas continuously weaves in animal characters that help make sense of things through his often long-winded but well-developed prose, and it all comes together in a thoroughly engaging trip through various genres and styles.