Book: Neil Smith, "Bang Crunch"
Bang Crunch - Stories, Neil Smith, 2007.

Picked this up compulsively based on having thought I'd read a positive review at some point. Short stories, mostly very good.


It's really hard to review a collection as one book. There is a connection between two of the stories, but for the most part they can be taken separately.

Isolettes
A single woman chooses to have a baby with her friend; the baby is born premature and eventually dies. She tries to reconcile how she ~should~ feel with how she ~does~ feel. Touching.

Green Fluorescent Protein
Teenage love. This story resonated with me pretty strongly.

The B9ers
A support group for people with benign tumours; they wonder if being too nice makes them susceptible. I found it very entertaining -- particularly the scene where an en masse attempt is made to be cruel.

Bang Crunch
To be sadly honest I had trouble with this story's disregard for conservation of mass and energy ... ah well. Taken purely as fantasy, though, it had some interesting things to say.

Scrapbook
A survivor of a school shooting, who can't tell anyone else that he'd been there. Probably one of the better in the collection.

The Butterfly Box
No strong feelings about this story -- to be honest it didn't make much of an impression on me.

Funny Weird or Funny Ha Ha?
Reminiscences of a recovering alcoholic. I really liked this one.

Extremities
This is one of those love-it-or-hate-it things. I loved it. Surreal & clever.

Jaybird
Number One The Best. A long time arts admin is given one chance to be in the spotlight; she does something no one expects and it's brilliant. Reminiscent of American Beauty.

Oh, and it's a debut. Good job, Mr Smith.