The Impressionists [Kindle Edition]

At approximately 13,000 words, this is a short one. In fact, I read it off my computer instead of on my B&N nook. But it was still a very good read.

The Impressionists consists of six short stories about social issues such as self image, domestic abuse, family relationships, alcoholism, and crime. All of them are told in the first person. As short as they are, the stories are all hard-hitting and touching.

A couple of them deal with the self-confidence (or lack thereof) of women. "Big Girl" is about Peggy who bought a self-help book. As the title suggests, she is a big girl. Even though the book is telling her that it's okay and being fat makes her more accepting of people, Peggy calls bull and buckles under the societal pressures. It is a rather candid `keeping it real' piece. "The Replica" is about an abused wife reflecting on how she ended up the way she is now. Every morning, she looks at herself in the mirror and she sees a shell, a shadow of what she was. She used to have dreams and a love of life. Now, she depends on medication to numb everything out. "WYWH" - Wish You Were Here - is about a woman who found a new identity online. In her real life, she's still grieving over the loss of her son many years ago. It showed that through the Internet, she is able to pretend she is someone else (as many of us often do, I'm sure) to distract herself from the pain of reality. That one was really heart-wrenching.

The rest of the stories center a little bit on crime. And punishment. "One Night Only" was very interesting. A serial killer, about to get the lethal injection, spends his final moments interviewing himself. "Organ Failure" is a woman talking to a corpse at a funeral viewing. She was there when the person in the coffin died. She found that person unconscious, in a pool of vomit. And finally, "A Small Act of Vandalism", it is about a troubled man with a secret. He keeps his mother's ashes in a sealed jar but his memories are harder to bottle up.

What I loved the most about these stories are the voices. All of them are very different. The author did a fantastic job of giving them distinct personalities. They have their own troubles and basically, what we are reading is their internal monologue. I loved how it flowed neatly and the stories are just so solid. Very, VERY well-written.

Rating: 4/5.

Recommendation: To anyone who has time to spare. :) Really, it took me less than an hour to read through all six stories. And they are good ones!

In Andrew Biss's superb collection of short stories The Impressionists there are six stories.

The first one is called Big Girl and is about Peggy who weighs in at a colossal 276 pounds. It is uncanny the way Andrew Biss has got so completely into the mind of an overweight woman and so accurately conveys her angst. At the end of the story I felt a sincere empathy with her and her plight, so brilliantly does Andrew Biss portray her. That he can convey such angst both with wit and empathy is remarkable. That she quotes from Nietzsche, Henry David Thoreau, Confucius, William Shakespeare, Andre Gide and Quentin crisp is a reflection of the erudition of the author, I think. Yet these quotations are woven so seamlessly into the story that they do not seem out of place.

The story contains some swear words, which I wouldn't normally like, but in this story Peggy is justified in expressing her feelings in this way and if you read this brilliant story and you definitely should, then you will see that they are perfectly justified within the context of the story.

This lead story reminds me of A Ball of Fat by Guy de Maupassant and like that story it is worth the price of the book, a meagre couple of pounds or dollars, all by itself. The other five stories in the collection are a bonus and what a bonus they are.

The second story is called The Replica. It starts off in the first person by speaking about the replica in the mirror. Then she begins describing her husband. Then it describes her life as a writer in the third person. I didn't like the constant shift between first and third person and ultimately I found this a depressing and dispiriting story. It is a story lacking Andrew's characteristic wit and charm. He is strongest when writing in the first person.

With the third story A Small Act of Vandalism the wit reasserts itself. Malcolm has his mother's ashes in a little porcelain box and he describes them as" a bit like instant coffee, you might say, only without the flavour." This is another story skilfully told in the author's authentic voice. He makes you really care and empathise with Malcolm and the dilemma in which he was placed. A really lovely story, lovingly told.

The fourth story, One Night Only is about a serial killer interviewing himself prior to his execution. It is funny in a gruesome way. Again the authentic voice of the author shines through this gritty story.
The fifth story is Organ Failure, which is set in a funeral home. This is a short, dark little story in which it is impossible to empathise with the woman telling the story.

The final story in the collection is WYWH, which is another very accomplished story, very witty and very poignant.

Like all short story collections it is a mixed bag, but a mixed bag ranging all the way from good, through excellent to masterly.

Replica and Organ Failure are good.

A Small Act of Vandalism, One Night Only and WYWH are excellent.

Big Girl is a masterpiece.

I like the way Andrew Biss, writing in the first person is able to express the feelings and emotions of an overweight woman, a young man, a serial killer and a middle-aged woman and to you cause you to empathise with them and to see them as real, individual people. This is a rare talent. I highly recommend this collection.

If this had been the first collection of Andrew Biss short stories I had come across I likely would never have tried anything else he has written. These stories are serious that poor quality. However judging Biss' talent on this book would be a huge mistake as he's written some really good and unique stories. I would suggest if you're looking for a quick taste of his work you try A Slip of the Tongueor An Embarrassing Odour. I had actually experienced those two as free Kindle downloads, having never heard of him before and eagerly ordered some of Biss' printed work. The Impressionists though is one of those rare books that as you are reading you regret having forked over money for it. It's only 39 pages long, which isn't a problem in my opinion, but if something is that short, it's got to be good to justify the cost. Quality over quantity certainly can't be argued for with the Impressionists.

Six stories are squeezed into the 39 pages, all are pretty much written as the character talking to you style. Big Girl is the first and the character talking to you is what the title suggests, a large woman. She delves into the frustrations of being large and the way the public looks at her compared to say someone with a disability. She also points out the absurdity of the self help books telling overweight people it's okay to be fat. It's not that there's anything wrong with this story, it's just that all it is, is a rant. Some of the usual humour that you find in Biss' other work could have made Big something. However that's missing here.

The Replica has a woman looking in the mirror realising the person in the reflection after a lengthy role as a domestic violence victim is not the real her. This is really just a depressing tale, it just lacked the something that these sorts of stories have.

A Small Act of Vandalism is a struggle to get through. A guy (who you only realise is one about half way through) is depressed and angry at his dead mother after an accident with her Wedgewood home.

Only One Night is the best of the lot but still would be a filler in any other collection. Basically a man waiting his lethal injection interviews himself.

Organ Failure has a woman viewing an open coffin at a funeral, it is only three pages so to give anything else away will spoil it.

WYWH is about another depressed woman who has just become acquainted with the online world where someone wants to meet her in person.