A novella and six short fictions, is by turn mythic and realistic, moving and wistful, innovative and traditional. It maps a wide geography of human emotions: lust, adventure, love, alienation, explicit violence and implicit passion. Ben Stoltzfus makes each character—a glamour girl, a scuba queen, a shaman, a mountain climber, a skier, a ball-court superstar, women in distress, even strangers—come vividly alive. In “Falling” you, the narrator, climb toward the summit with Juan, your friend, following flashbacks in the narrative trail. In “The Bank”, a father and son come to terms with a lifetime of estrangement. In “Glamour Girl”, a woman reminisces about her husbands, rich people, Joe Louis and happy days in the spotlight. In “Scuba Queen”, two college friends, now in their thirties, dive for abalone in the kelp beds of the Pacific Ocean where their rivalry begets a dangerous and miraculous denoument. “Masks and Bergamasks” is a love monologue, a silent conversation between a teacher and a student during a lecture on French Symbolist poetry. In “Samantha’s Choice”, three friends debate free will versus determinism, and are caught in an avalanche while skiing Mount Washington. In “The Games of Chichén Itzà”, a shaman dreams Mayan life and ritual into a dramatic ball-court encounter between two teams; the play of the gods is re-enacted as struggle, blood-sacrifice and renewal. Subtly honed with hallmark precision and keen insight this wide-ranging collection exemplifies the best in narrative art.
