Short story that I was able to read online for free. The main character clearly has no regard for anyone but himself. He is jaded and due to his mundane routine he cannot take anything seriously. Not sure if there is some hidden message, I took it as life being so boring that when something traumatic happens, you don't know how to deal with the curve ball thrown at you. Despite it being short, the story was a good read. ( )

actually just read 'Bullet in the Brain', 29 jul 2020

Flawed and small-minded
turned into lovely moments
more than we deserve. ( )

Mr. Wolff is known for his short fiction, but this is the first collection of his I have read and it did not disappoint. This was published in 1996 but most of the stories are set in the 60s and 70s. Stories about damaged or flawed people, facing the trials of every day life. There are also a couple of stories set in Vietnam, capturing the boredom, the fear and horror of war. He is a solid writer and good story-teller. I will be seeking out more of his short fiction. ( )

I’ve grown weary of a certain type of fiction. Fiction that presents itself as fiction. Better said, fiction whose language strives (w/o precision) for poetry’s vague enchantments, and whose stories and details are of the kind that fruity old professors speak about in succulent terms, terms like pieces of brownly broiled chicken, these professors smacking their lips maddeningly on nothing but their ideas of something juicy. Somewhere a saucy Shakespearean actor shouts the word, “acting,” pronouncing it “ahkh-teen!” and shakes a soft fist at the audience. Anyway, et cetera. It’s unseemly, this kind of fiction. The fiction I like now is more like non-fiction. Tobias Wolffe’s fiction isn't like this; it's both real and precisely poetic. Wolffe is funny and exacting. He goes after hard detail and doesn’t repeat himself. His stories’ structures are intricate and interesting. He seemed to me to reveal in his stories the basic structure of life, as if opening the hood of an exotic sports car and slowly taking apart the engine, piece by gleaming piece. And he’s very funny, not just haha funny. And he’s wise. I’m certainly going to read him again. ( )