Winning stories short and sweet

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Anthony Varallo’s ‘Out Loud,’ winner of Pitt’s Drue Heinz Literature Prize, is an… ‘

Anthony Varallo’s ‘Out Loud,’ winner of Pitt’s Drue Heinz Literature Prize, is an example of the profound potential of the written word — a power that can educate, sway opinions and still be fun to read.

The book is a collection of short stories told from varying points of views, such as an embarrassed middle school child and a depressed divorcee starting a journal. They all have a unifying theme, however: The characters tend to second-guess themselves and are typically silent compared to their often chatty companions.

The stories themselves are not in any form a manifestation of the fantastic — in fact, the closest the book comes to unrealistic is the mere mention that a hole in a garden might lead to Narnia. Each character is a very down-to-earth person with real fears, depressions, concerns and epiphanies. Despite the unifying archetype of ordinary people in an ordinary world, they don’t feel like stock characters. They are driven, as Varallo has said, ‘by a love of ordinary life.’

And it shows. Menial tasks such as baby-sitting and mowing the lawn are given newfound significance as Varallo seamlessly transitions from the activity itself to the scatter-brained thought processes that surely grip any person teetering on the jagged precipice of self-inflicted boredom.

Varallo puts to words with eerie accuracy some of the most mundane thought processes that many wouldn’t give a second notice. This is perhaps epitomized in the second story, ‘The Walkers.’ It revolves around a couple that, instead of learning their neighbors’ names, gives them nicknames and fabricated back-stories. They then have impromptu, imagined conversations with them, down to the most nuanced awkward silence or inappropriate question. There’s no real dialogue until the end, where the story comes full circle in an ironic and rather clever point.

While the stories don’t average more than 15 pages apiece, the characters are still well-rounded. It’s amazing that with such little space Varallo has crafted real people, not just actors who must react to every whim of their creator. Every little bit of history is divulged — even how one poor soul is blackmailed to silence, lest his tearful encounter with ‘ET’ be known to the cruel school-going public.

However, some of the stories fall short because of that reason. They’re not very long, making for quick reads of about 20 minutes. Because of that, some of the stories don’t seem to have a proper conclusion. Other times, some of the metaphors employed are strange, even borderline ridiculous. How does one feel, exactly, when ‘casually handed a refrigerator?’

Some of the awkwardness can seem out of place or just strange, such as a teacher relating his personal life to one of his middle school students. The student doesn’t say much, while the teacher fills in the gaps of silence with personal stories on the cruelty of kids, dating and love (going so far as to divulge that his first kiss was at 22 years of age). It feels like an unnecessarily forced drama.

Nonetheless, this book is the work of a borderline literary genius who certainly showed why he deserved the award.

It’s an eyeglass to the everyday, a microscope to the mundane, an observatory to the ordinary and an all-around good read to curl up with before bed.