One Person Away From You: Stories

by Andrew Bertaina

Winner of the 2020 Moon City Short Fiction Award One Person Away From You  is a collection of stories that oscillates between the fantastic and the for every woman who turns into a swan, there’s a man who bungles a romantic relationship in Italy; for every sky that rains a torrent of laughter, there’s a husband reminiscing about his honeymoon. Above all, the stories explore our common lot of lostness and longing, our question of whether our life and loves are the right ones or the product of some cosmic error. Whether it’s a sea appearing suddenly in a bone dry valley, an angel musing on his relationship with a mortal woman, or a narrator yearning for an absent lover the deeply emotional stories search for meaning. Throughout this collection, characters and entire towns search through the constructs of identity, time, fairy tales, and love letters, to find the flicker of constancy in the sea of change that is human life. 

Genres: Short Stories

184 pages, Paperback

Published August 18, 2021

About the author

Andrew Bertaina is the author of the essay collection, The Body Is A Temporary Gathering Place (Autofocus Books), and the short story collection One Person Away From You (2021), which won the Moon City Short Fiction Award. His work has appeared in The Threepenny Review, Witness Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Post Road, and The Best American Poetry. He has an MFA from American University in Washington, DC.

Reviews

[Emily Brisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I appreciated most about Bertaina's collection was how sure his authorial voice felt through each story. I trusted these narrators. Sometimes I liked them, sometimes I didn't -- but I believed they were being as honest as they could be, that through their heartaches and discoveries and ennui and wonder they were trying to figure out something essential about life -- which is, really, what I'm always hoping for when I read. Hard to pick a favorite, but I really liked "When We Lived By the See." Gorgeous writing throughout.

[Melissa]

A long collection--34 stories, ranging from 2-3 to 20 pages in length. A sure and confident narratorial voice and style. Some standouts for me--"Everyone in This Story," "Waking Dreams," "When We Lived By the Sea," "The Space Between Us," "Of Lakes and Swans," and "Things She's Tired of Hearing."

[Carrie Esposito · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Person Away From You is an absorbing collection of stories where it feels as if the narrators are always grasping for something just out of reach. Told with lyrical language, astute observations and original images, each story leaves a small longing in its wake. A lovely collection to savor on a train, under a warm blanket, by a fire or wherever you take your stories.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a terrible book, but I think all the other reviewers are the author's friends. Pretty standard for these small press books.

There was some nice writing and a few clever stories, but this book kept hitting my personal pet peeves over and over. The style is overly "writerly" with tons of long florid sentences. It definitely takes some talent to write that way, but I prefer a more restrained writing style as metaphors lose their impact when the story is cluttered with them.

Many of the narrators speak in an overly formal voice. They call their parents Mother and Father. They don't "talk about" things, they "speak of" things. I kept thinking that these stories took place back in the 1950s because of the formal language, then I'd be thrown off balance by a reference to Netflix or dating apps. It would be one thing if one story was written with an anachronistic voice, as that can say something about the narrator's individuality, but the stories start to blend together when so many sound the same.

Though I'm an advocate for exposition in fiction, a lot of the stories didn't have enough scenes to balance out the long telling passages. I couldn't really picture any of the characters, either their physical characteristics or how they moved through the world. I failed to connect.

When I began the book, I thought the first story, "Everyone in This Story," was really clever. Every sentence begins with the phrase "Everyone in this story," followed by a vivid, florid sentence playing with literary fiction cliches. Later on though, he uses the same trick of beginning every sentence the same again in "Maybe this Time." This is the sort of writer's game that should only be used once per collection, but it also summarizes my frustrations with the book: overly clever, overly writerly, and too repetitive.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alternately funny, lyrical, haunting, and sad, and often within the same story, this is a well-crafted, solid, readable, collection and my favorite read so far this year. Stories range from a standard length to much shorter pieces, making it an easy, accessible book to pick up and take along, even if time for reading is short.

[A. Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Bertaina has tapped into emotions and motivations which hide underneath the skin. His characters are understandable and nearly all likable. The stories are told poetically and with good-hearted humor. It is easy to read in one or two settings, because each piece is captivating. This collection is a must-read for anyone who appreciates human connection and how we move through the world.

[Mary Alouette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A writer’s writer. It made me laugh out loud, and I enjoyed words like “purpled”. My favorite story is the one with the author who rewrites a preface to his 3rd or 4th edition of his book.