Christina Marrocco

It's been a busy couple of months since I was lucky enough to get a signed copy of Kim Suhr's short story collection, Close Call, fresh from the author's hands. A couple of busy months, which has meant I didn't get to dig in until now. If I were a billionaire, or even just a millionaire, I would buy and send copies of this book to all of my friends. God, it's a gorgeous read: intelligent, clear, layered, deep, real, and also lovely in form. It weighs up the pressures of modern life and the wrinkles as well--the children playing at school shooting scenarios, the man who makes prayer requests for his middle aged wife to become pregnant despite his vasectomy and despite the risks of getting what one asks for, the imperfect perfectness of womanly friendship, the moments and connections that are balm and are also stinging nettle. It's a book that really showcases the beauty what a slim short story collection can be--and do. I lost myself in the book and did not want it to end. I gasped in places and laughed in places, and I found delight in the mind of the writer everywhere. If I gave stars,Close Call would be the Milky Way.