Today, I am reviewing a book which I happened to stumble on at my local library in Hillsborough. It is called New Jersey Noir, and it is a compilation of short stories and poems, all centered around one common theme: New Jersey. Each of the stories and poems take place in and/or are about, on some level of another, the Garden State.
This book came out in 2011 and was edited by Joyce Carol Oates. Admittedly, however, I had not even heard of it until running across it at the library, but I wish that I had. I saw it during a recent visit to the local library, and it caught my eye. There was something about it which struck me right away, and made me pick it up and look at it, then take it out to read it.
Now, there are a lot of stories and poems in this one. So reviewing every single one in any real detail would be I will try to break down the short stories which made the most impression on me.
Before I go on, let me give the usual warnings to stop reading if you intend to read this book, because there will be spoilers ahead.
SPOILER ALERT
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Okay, so by now if you are still reading this, I have to imagine that you either are familiar with this story already, or perhaps you do not mind the spoilers. Please just don't say that you were not given advanced warning.
Let's get to the actual review, touching on each short story in particular. So let's get it started:
Part I: Inner-City New Jersey
Live For Today by S.A. Solomon - A story about a former junkie who works at the morgue in a hospital and gets high from the blood of a recently deceased drug addict.
Soul Anatomy by Lou Mantredo - A story which takes place in Camden, one of the most dangerous and crime ridden cities in the country. The son of a powerful politician gets mixed up in a shooting inside of the city, under unusual and possibly suspect circumstances.
New Day Newark by S.J. Tozan - A woman sees one of her neighbors become a promising young mayor, and she helps him make good on his campaign promise to fight gang violence by taking matters into her own hands.
Part II: Romance & Nostalgia
Lola by Jonathan Stanlofer - A story of a lonely and not quite stable young artist who stalks an attractive woman and makes artwork about her. He seems to manipulate the situation and finally gets to connect with her, but sees that she is married. In the end, she is able to turn things around on him, and he pays a very deep price for his naivete.
The Enigma of Grover's Mill by Bradford Morrow - A young man - really just a kid - during the time of the infamous War of the Worlds scare, which took place in Grover's Mill, loses his father and then his mother and grandfather in quick succession. His grandmother reluctantly takes care of him, but invites an man who the teenage narrator believes is an alien.
Wunderlich by Sheila Kohler - An older woman meets a muscled and attractive young man to get a body massage, and the results seem wonderful. Everyone things she looks younger and great, especially for her age. But when the young man grows a little too close, she grows uncomfortable and distances herself. The results, however, are a decline in both looks and health, so she goes back. But it is not the same. He seems nasty. Eventually, she runs away, but he promises that if she runs, she will never see him again. He is a wonderful literary character, but she can no longer get use from him. Still, she is haunted by him, especially on a lonely street at night, when she hears him and is taunted by him, yet still cannot see him. Strange story, but in a good way.
Atlantis by Richard Burgin - A down and out couple seem to be on the verge of seeing their mostly destructive romantic union come to an end. Rina, the girlfriend, feels like her boyfriend, Stacy, is basically her dead end, living in an apartment below sea level. It feels like a tomb. He tries to clean up his act, and suggests a road trip. But then the temptation to go back to the old ways, to make one last drug deal just for enough money for a new start, gets the better of him. She accompanies him, but everything goes wrong. They both feel resigned to their mutual fate, and go back to their dead end apartment, to their shared figurative tomb. A solid short story, which was at once depressing and engaging. Enjoyed this one very much.
Part III: Commerce & Retribution
A Bag for Nicholas by Hirsh Sawhney - Shez (not his actual name) had once tasted real success in the music world with a hit in the nineties. However, his life has spiraled downhill since, although he is trying to reverse that tide. Trying to put a life of substance abuse and just getting by dealing drugs to make ends meet behind him. His ex-wife gives him an opportunity to finally get another chance, but everything goes wrong. By the end, she gives up on him when he misses the appointment, and he returns to his dead-end life.
Glass Eels by Jeffrey Ford - Two boys looking for fun with some precious eels, which they can sell, find themselves suddenly followed and forced to some isolated dunes, where they have a life-threatening encounter with the locals chasing them.
Meadowlands Spike by Barry N. Malzberg & Bill Pronzini - A man tells a story of how he was the one who was responsible for the disappearance and murder of Jimmy Hoffa. He provides very specific details of how he buried Hoffa's remain in the end zone of the old Giants Stadium. Yet, there is a twist right at the end. Another enjoyable story.
Kettle Run by Robert Arellano - Ernie is a Hispanic teenager sees his social status at the local high school fall, as he becomes regarded as a loser. His life circumstances are difficult, but he at least has an escape. He gets high with another unpopular kid, known as Pervert. Yet, the marijuana they are smoking winds up being home grown from some local kids, who turn violent. Suddenly, it becomes deadly serious, and Ernie has to use his wits to try to survive.
Part IV: Garden State Underground
Too Near Real by Jonathan Safran Foer - This was the first short story in this collection from an author I was familiar with. And it is an excellent piece, giving a unique perspective on real life versus virtual reality living. The narrator finds himself drawn to the pattern of the vehicle regularly taking a tour of his hometown of Princeton for Google Maps, in order to be able to view himself. Little by little, he loses access to his own reality, so taken is he by the virtual town which he travels through. Until, that is, he sees another man repeatedly in this virtual world, seeming to call him out. Before long, he finds his own image collapsed and dead in the virtual reality. A really solid short story, and probably my favorite from this particular collection.
Excavation by Edmund White & Michael Carroll - A couple walk in Asbury Park, searching for their missing friend. We learn that the young man who they are searching for is far and away the youngest, and there is a complicated love triangle between the three of them. Yet, the young man is suicidal, and they begin to understand that this time, it was not a fake suicide attempt, or a call for help.
Run Kiss Daddy by Joyce Carol Oates - Probably the most famous author to contribute to this collection. This is about a middle-aged man hoping to make good on what appears to be a second chance at a good life. His previous wife and family are gone, out of his life. But he has met an attractive woman significantly younger than him, and with two beautiful children. Still, he has to be careful, because he senses that this relationship is quite fragile. He clearly had felt that life with his previous family was ideal in the rural town of Paraquarry Lake in the wooded foothills of northwestern New Jersey, and finds another opportunity to live there and again be happy. Again, this feels like a fragile situation, as his new woman and her young kids seem not entirely sold on this rural community. As he works hard to make improvements on the home, he digs up the remains of a young child, which hauntingly seems to remind him of his first family.
Overall, a solid collection of short stories and poems, all focusing on the Garden State. The gems for me really would be Too Near Real by Jonathan Safran Foer, and Run Kiss Daddy by Joyce Carol Oates.
Too Near Real was quite thought-provoking, and there are some incredible aspects to the writing. Here, below, is just a snippet: Here are some of my favorite passages from the short by Jonathan Safran Foer regarding the "life" (or rather, the lack thereof) captured inside of the world of Google Maps (page 229):
"Nothing ever happens because nothing can happen, because despite the music, movies, and novels that have inspired us to believe that the extraordinary is right around the corner, we've been disappointed by experience. The dissonance between what we've been promised and what we've been given would make anyone confused and lonely. I was only ever trying to inch my imitation of life closer to life."
Earlier, he had explored cities and dream destinations which he had never actually been to, including Cape Town and Venice and Sydney and Rio and Kyoto. He acknowledges the limitations of these visits, never having actually physically been to these exotic places. Thus, they lack the smell, the sounds, the feel, the taste of these places. Yet, he later expresses some trepidation as to the direction that all of this is heading, suggesting that this virtual reality might someday not too distant replace actual reality Here is one passage that brilliantly captures that depressing possibility (page 231-232):
"As computing moves off of devices and into our bodies, the living map will as well. That's what they're saying. In the clumsiest version we will wear goggles onto which the map is projected. In all likelihood, the map will be on contact lenses, or will forgo our eyes altogether. We will literally live in the map. It will be as visually rich as the world itself: the trees will not merely look like trees, they will feel like trees. They will, as far as our minds are concerned, be trees. Actual trees will be the imitations."
Does that not feel like more and more of a distinct possibility? Is it perhaps not already happening now, to some degree? We have virtual reality, and people seem to have forgotten how to interact in person, with their limitations bleeding through with their experiences in the numerous (and always growing) social media sites.
A solid collection of short stories, over all.
Highly recommended.
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