Power walk through life’s obstacles

Displacement – it’s something we’ve all felt. The first semester at college, the first date… Displacement – it’s something we’ve all felt. The first semester at college, the first date with someone new after a long relationship has ended, the first day at a new job – each experience is ridden with the overwhelming emotion resulting from being separated from what is going on around you.

In her book ‘Speed-Walk and Other Stories,’ Suzanne Greenberg takes that idea of displacement and bases all of her stories around characters who have ended up somewhere they don’t recognize. Each protagonist is trying to understand his or her surroundings and make a definite step forward.

In the title story, a man finds himself in Southern California, the confused owner of a guide dog and a participant in ‘speed walk dating,’ all the while trying to get over the sudden death of his wife two months earlier.

‘My Treat, Geronimo’ tells the charming story of a grandmother who unknowingly leads a young boy into Washington, D.C., when the youngster is really on his way to Miami. To kill the time before he catches the next train south, she takes him out for a day on the town.

An older woman, in the story ‘Honeymoon,’ discovers that the younger man she married collects hotel condiment bottles, is missing half a toe, and uses the words ‘super’ and ‘excellent’ in practically every sentence.

And in the most poignant story of the collection, ‘The Queen of Laundry,’ a mother finds herself trying to forge a good relationship with her daughter while piecing together the fragments of her post-divorce lifestyle.

Greenberg also adopts a child’s perspective in several of her stories. In ‘Indoor-Outdoor Pool,’ Royce is enthralled by the idea of mermaids in the hotel pool where he’s vacationing with his divorced parents. He’s not so keen on the idea of fractions or the lifeguard’s bratty little brother, though. Victoria is the birthday girl who has a disturbing encounter with a stranger in ‘Two Parties.’ And ‘Mr. Herzinger’ tells the story of a girl trying to comfort her friend as she copes with her parents’ violent fights. This collection of stories won this year’s prestigious Drue Heinz Literature Prize. While it is not unworthy of acclaim, the stories sometimes lack any discernible focus. A reader could close the book after reading, for instance, ‘A Good Bet,’ a story about a grandmother’s short visit with her granddaughter, and not really be any better or worse after having read it.

However, Greenberg, an associate professor of English at California State University, Long Beach, is a talented writer. Her characters are very realistic and make pertinent observations about the lives they’re living. In the title story, the protagonist makes the very astute remark that, ‘Before Becky died, I never understood people who claimed they had simply ended up somewhere or with someone or in some job, but maybe now I was starting to.’ Each character changes through the course of the story, and is trying to take the next step forward in the progression of his or her private life.

Greenberg has written a good collection of short stories. If you enjoy reading quiet, contemplative pieces that take an intimate look at another person’s everyday life, you’re in for a treat, with ‘Speed-Walk and Other Stories.’