We Were Flying to Chicago

February 17, 2014
Although uneven in quality, the 10 entries in Clouther’s debut collection all display a sure-handed grasp of craft. The first and last stories are the best. In the former, the title story, deft and subtle shifts of perspective among a group of young women lead to a well-earned concluding insight. Better still is the emotionally complex final selection, “Puritan Hotel, Barnstable,” about two brothers, Michael and Connor, dealing with Connor’s cancer treatment. The other stories are a mixed bag. “T-Bone Capone Loves the Lady Ace,” which also centers on the illness of a loved one—in this case, the sister of the narrator’s girlfriend—feels forced. “Isabelle and Colleen,” about a 13-year-old boy, his high-school-age brother, and his brother’s pregnant girlfriend, has some tender, memorable moments. “On The Highway Near Fairfield, Connecticut,” about two cousins on a road trip, looks at fate with a fresh eye. “The Third Prophet of Wyaconda,” concerning a messianic visitor to a small Iowa town, never quite achieves the right tone. Nonetheless, readers should find many of Clouther’s characters, even those in his less successful efforts, lingering in the mind afterward.

April 1, 2014
The stories in this debut collection cover familiar territory with subtle prose that strives for emotional impact. In these 10 stories, Clouther (Creative Writing/Stony Brook, Johns Hopkins) explores the promise and disappointments of daily life; aging, relationships and religion are frequent topics. At their strongest, the stories develop an intimate voice and the reader can feel characters' hopes and despair. The title story is a particular standout. A group of airplane passengers are stuck on a layover; the story is told from their collective perspective ("For no good reason, we were flying to Chicago," it begins). The first-person plural point of view is inviting and fresh. As the passengers describe their midlife ennui, the empty promises of youth become a shared experience. In "Isabelle and Colleen," a memorable narrator again breathes life into a potentially stale plot. This story about a teen pregnancy is narrated by the younger brother of the father-to-be. James is torn between admiration and shame, between his own adolescent insecurities and his family's much larger issues. His innocent, earnest perspective is endearing and poignant. Too often, however, the stories adopt an overly impersonal tone, making it hard to feel the depth of what's at stake. In "The Third Prophet of Wyaconda," a self-proclaimed prophet appears in a small town promising a miracle. The story reads like a parable or allegory without the clarity needed to interpret a meaning or moral. "Puritan Hotel, Barnstable" suffers a similar limitation. The characters grapple with a family member's illness but are too generic for the reader to experience their grief. Both "Open House" and "I Know Who You Are" raise more questions than they answer and fall short of any emotional effect they might intend. Clouther's stories range from moving to boring to downright confusing. Taken together, the collection fails to leave a mark.

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Starred review from June 1, 2014
Clouther's first collection of stories shows an old talentmeaning, his sophistication in treatment and technique and his wise observations of the human condition have the feel of an author who has the experience of several story collections behind him. These 10 stories reveal Clouther's perfectly attuned ear for the clich's, rhythms, and timid vocabulary of ordinary folk; on the other hand, he has great empathy for what these people may not be able to articulate but know in their hearts. In plotting out a story, he is not only creative in how best to generate the condensed dramatic tension necessary in a short story but also intuitive in knowing when and how much to reveal about a person or happening while still ensuring that this power-in-concentration is maintained. Charleston for Breakfast, about a young man who blows off his job to take a ride with his girlfriend, is a heartfelt, intelligent presentation of Clouther's aptitude for knowing just how far to go into a story so that reader interest is sustained while still adhering to limited elaboration. We eagerly await his next collection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)