| “Tales of Transgression” is a collection of twenty one short stories about loneliness, love, fate, and identity. All of the stories are entertaining and compelling and have distinct stylistic elements that keep you engrossed in not only the story, but also its structure. Some of my favorites were, “Ugly,” “Faithless,” and “A Manhattan Romance.”
“Ugly” is the story of a young woman who takes a job at a diner in Sandy Hook, NJ. There she meets an interesting character, who was previously a teacher. Both are lonely and end up needing each other to resolve a problem at the end of the story. |
I enjoyed this story because of the depth of feelings that are conveyed between all the characters–not just the waitress and the teacher.
“Faithless” is about the lives of two daughters who grow up believing that their mother abandoned them, and their father, when they were young. You can feel their pain and bewilderment growing up and wondering, “why?” The story has an interesting ending that is tragic on many levels.
A Manhattan Romance” has two interesting characters–a father and a precocious daughter. The father takes his daughter on a shopping spree across New York. He goes from one expensive store to another, buying expensive trinkets and traveling in a limo. As he is seen by strangers around Manhattan, they seem to recognize him. You do not find out the reason for his “fame,” or his shopping spree, until the end of the story.
I recommend this collection of stories without reservation. It is particularly excellent for commuters. You can read one story a day while traveling to and from work (on a train or bus, of course!)
