Behaving This Way Is All I have Left
by Gonzalo Riedel
London, ON: Insomniac, 2013
119 pp, $19.95
In his first collection of short stories, Winnipeg author Gonzalo Riedel provides concise, snappy situations with ordinary people who, more often than not, make bad decisions. They commit crimes, live outside the mainstream or have unworthy thoughts which lead to wrongful deeds. Riedel gets inside the head of these characters and as a result, readers gain insights in to their motives. The prose is spare, each narration leading to an end that jolts or twists. Child acrobats from Russia appear in “The Trained Performers.” A sudden unscripted tightrope performance leaves the reader in suspense up to the final sentence. “Clubbers” tells the story of a man’s collapse after taking a recreational drug and the reaction of the drug dealer who is responsible. Male fantasies are played out in “A Matter of Degrees” as Adam provokes a brawl with his rival over a love interest at a “downtown dive that pulled in a crossover crowd of either punks or old prairie rednecks, depending on the night.” In “The Escort Agency” Paul nervously sets up a paid encounter with a woman over the telephone. The voice of the man he calls to arrange the service is “deep, impatient, ambiguously accented.” Paul’s tentative feelings become out of control by story’s end.
The content of each story is original and contains humor and truth. Developing a stronger presence of place, such as Winnipeg, would give more dimension to this otherwise thoughtful and entertaining collection.
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