Title: The Art of Dying and Other Stories
Author: Mike Corwin
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 979-8369408612
Pages: 204
Genre: Short Stories
Reviewed by: Ephantus M.
Pacific Book Review
The Art of Dying and Other Stories is a breathtakingly imaginative set of short stories written by Mike Corwin. The eight short stories masterfully meander through themes of family, tragedy, life complications, love, parenthood, resilience, and change. The stories
range from short entries such as “The Visit” and “You Gotta Stand Up” and long ones such as “The Importance of Living a Meaningful Life.” Throughout, shifting moods, evocative wordplay, and bold storytelling dominate through a string of clear-eyed prose. Together, the stories come alive in the reader’s mind depicting the true extent of the human spirit, both in its compassionate side and its dark motive.
Readers will be introduced to the first story titled “The Art of Dying”, a beguiling tale of a 53-year-old man who discovers he has a life-altering condition and does not have long to live and retreats to a quiet beach inn, away from his luxuries in Atlanta, with a plan to die knowing having accomplished a feat of existential significance. It is this narrative which forms a splendid springboard to the stories that follow in this beautiful masterpiece. Elsewhere, a high school girl whose resentful and vain mother abandons her and her dad, at a tender age, later learns to overcome the obstacles of growing up without a mother to look up to. In another entry titled “If I Had My Way in This Wicked World,” a ten-year-old boy with a difficult childhood, commits a heinous crime that gets him committed into a mental institution until his death years later.
Mike Corwin’s sublime work is simply elegant and rich in fine-grained detail. He has the apt ability to contrive the depth and intricacy that life truly holds. There is a story which will resonate with every reader. His stories are diverse, spanning different periods, and I easily got lost in the beautiful worlds the author created in each story. Artful and sophisticated, the plots employ the right amount of dialogue and give the characters a decent send-off as each tale draws to a close. Corwin managed to pique my interest in this genre. The virtuosic variety of his work is the hallmark of the collection. Altogether, The Art of Dying and Other Stories is a triumph, and deserves a place on the best seller’s list.
