Cake

by Tristan Davies

Impressionistic and dreamlike, the stories in Cake explore the complexities of love and relationships in contemporary society. Linked by a sense of regret, these characters are at the mercy of their desires and uncertain longings, often with disastrous results. A young couple experiences town politics, group dynamics, and their own insecurities through a seemingly innocuous holiday ritual in "Snowflake." "Talent Show" introduces us to a series of unnamed women, their dreams and aspirations summed up in a few deceptively simple lines. One life leads into another, until we return to where we began, like a cinematic pan across a landscape of ambition gone awry. The imagery in these compact and highly visual stories ranges from the everyday to the surreal. "Buena Vista Notebook" deftly blends language and word play with the story of doomed love affairs, culminating in a chance meeting that is random yet somehow not unexpected. And "Job" relates the story of what is perhaps the most unusual meeting of two naked people in recent fiction. Comic and yet sad, its hero experiences a moment of painful clarity in the most unlikely of circumstances. Questions of identity, love, and the nature of existence may never be answered fully (in life or in fiction), but each of these stories presents a psychological turning point, often just a fleeting moment, sometimes more bitter than sweet. And in that moment the characters are brought that much closer to the answers to some of those questions. Emotionally taut and infused with poetic imagery, Cake is a bold debut and a portrait of the crisis of the modern relationship.

168 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 2003

Reviews

[PeteR · Rating 4 out of 5]

i haven't read Cake yet but i did read a story of Tristan Davies', called "Fiesta", found in an old Glimmer Train journal, Fall 2000, issue 36. Don't think "Fiesta" is in Cake but will check it out as sounds like more of the same.

i greatly enjoyed the story but not sure what it means: maybe lost opportunity for true love? maybe magic lost? maybe the confusion related to establishing a post modern long term romantic relationship? Dunno but i liked it..

characters were young adult teachers, setting was upper middle class suburban Baltimore pvt school and a school outing to Pamplona.

one thing for sure is that TD can write and that he can do so with a very believable and appealing narrative voice.

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later on, after reading Cake, i added the following:


THE SHORT OF IT: Cake is a collection of tough short stories by a skilled craftsman in which realistic characters experience and respond to the stress of modern social realities.

i greatly appreciate the quality of these stories but, being an anthropologist (as well as a short story reader), I also tend to focus on the structural minefields of the modern emotional relationships Mr. Davies describes.

Some of the longer pieces of Cake resonate with "Fiesta", a wonderful earlier short story by Mr. Davies. For me, the young protagonist of "Fiesta" could have grown into Philip of "Snapdragon" or Wallace of "The thing itself". Too bad about that, eh?

One root of the problem relationships described in the Cake stories is that "falling in love" type people also tend to fall in love again with new people. Understandably, this causes their old lovers to become angry bitter and distrustful. Staying-together-for-the-children results in a depressing toxic stew of a marriage that does not nurture anybody.

Relationships based on friendship might tend to be more durable. Evelyn and the young protagonist of "Fiesta" had friendship. But, on Evelyn's part, not the chemistry, as she had a thing for bad boys and short term sexual intimacy. Clearly a friendship marriage of this kind would have to include a lot of overlooking. (By the way, Evelyn is a fascinating character but when she grows older I can see her turning into somebody like Astrid from the Cake story "Dan, Astrid Says". Personally, I like Evelyn a lot better than Astrid.)

The modern wimmin in these stories seem to have the upper hand over their men, until they have children and then their options are limited.

On this structural foundation, Mr. Davies builds his artful stories describing some of the trials and tribulations of modern relationships.

[Nathan Oates · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've owned this book of stories for years (Davies was one of my teachers at Hopkins), but didn't open it until this week, at which point I read it straight through in two days. These stories are often brilliant and elegantly push against my expectations of what a story is, or should do and in so doing he uncovers new ways to get at experience and the confusion of life. The collection is also nicely arranged, with shorter, lyrical pieces mixed in with longer, character-driven narratives. I felt, reading this book, as though Davies was never content to work in an existing rut, but always cutting straight toward his subject, which is a rare and refreshing thing to find.

[ASoner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love short stories. It is hard to write them. To give personality to the characters within couple pages is a very hard task. This book was great. All the characters had a face in my mind, a personality, how they must look, how they must act. It is not that the author gave many descriptions of the characters but it is just they way he told the story. I enjoyed everyone of them.