Reviews

Books

Chatter

By Perrin Ireland (Algonquin, $23.95)

The protagonist of Ireland's second novel is herself a writer, at work on a book about "the intersection of humor and terror. Or, if you prefer, about a man and a woman and another woman". And that's what Ireland is writing about, too. The fictional author is Sarah, whose husband (her second) of 18 years discovers he has a daughter from his Peace Corps days in Latin America. Enter terror No 1. "Everyone knew," Sarah argues, "that the primary reason second marriages fail was because of children from previous relationships. If we were on a sinking boat, who would you save?"

Interspersed with such terrors of the heart are the trivial pursuits of everyday life and the contemporary American preoccupation with another species of horror - the beheading and bombing kind - all of which emerge through the constant chatter of hasty encounters and overheard conversations: "'It's behind the mayonnaise jar,' a man said into his cellphone. 'There are 13 hostages,' a woman said into her phone."

So, where exactly is this humor-terror nexus that Ireland so charmingly brings to life? It seems to lie somewhere on the plane of the absurd, which is cut by a horizontal axis of evil and a vertical axis of the mundane.

Super America: Stories

By Anne Panning (University of Georgia, $24.95)

Panning's new collection radiates infectious optimism. Even when things aren't going so well, her characters forge ahead, holding tight to their (mostly) modest goals: A nice house in a new subdivision, a reconciliation with an estranged wife, a new baby. Her enchanting Norahs and Alices, Tobys and Theos drag you effortlessly into their very American lives. Faye is exasperated when her husband and sister talk her into investing in a restaurant that serves fried frogs' legs, but somehow, instead of breaking up her creaky marriage, the crispy critters give it a boost. Meanwhile, in Hawaii, Rob and Jeremy's relationship is saved by an old Chinese couple, a box of rings and a tsunami.

But it's Panning's riff in Five Reasons I Miss the Laundromats that best demonstrates her ability to squeeze joy from the commonplace. Before she had "a house and a husband and a baby and a washer and dryer", the narrator tells herself, she would spend time in Laundromats where she'd run across people like Bibs, a friend everyone else thought was homeless, who made sculptures from old detergent bottles. Now, in the privacy of her own laundry room, there are no such curious and close encounters. "You think - you laugh out loud - you should have married Bibs."

The Italian Lover

By Robert Hellenga (Little, Brown, $23.99)

This is a book about a movie about a book, which is simply to say it's a sequel to Hellenga's first novel, The Sixteen Pleasures. In that tale, Margot Harrington, a young book conservator from Chicago, set off in late 1966 to help save the literary treasures of Florence from a flood. Now she's 53, still in Italy and hoping that a movie (The Italian Lover) being made from her memoir (The Sixteen Pleasures) will help quell her rising suspicion that she doesn't really belong here.

Hellenga smoothly merges past and present while injecting Margot's story with fresh talent. Miranda is the new Margot; she's both playing Margot in the movie and following in her footsteps. Woody is Margot's new lover, a fellow transplant from the Midwest. And rounding out the company are the remaining crew and cast of the movie. This being Italy, there are affairs, fiery outbursts and lots of rich food. This being Hellenga, the story is just as rich.

The New York Times Syndicate

(China Daily 10/31/2007 page20)