Yes, Yes, Cherries

I am not usually someone who reads short stories, often feeling like they do not allow me to really enter and explore a specific world for any length of time. This collection of short stories is the exception. I devoured this book in the same way I would a rivetingly good novel. Mary Otis's world is so complete, her characters so surprising and intriguing and the stories so connected, I literally couldn't put it down. I laughed outloud, I was moved, I was forced to reflect on my own idiosyncracies. Each story stays with you almost like a film would, with the images resonating long after. Mary is truly a brilliant new talent. I encourage all to buy this book!

In Walter Mosley's introduction to the 2003 edition of The Best American Short Stories, he talks about what he sees is the difference between novels and short stories. "A novel... is like a mountain - superior, vast, and immense... Mountains can be understood only by years of negotiating their trails and sheer faces... But if novels are mountains, then stories are far-flung islands that one comes upon in the limitless horizon of the sea... small, craggy atolls inhabited by eclectic and nomadic life forms that found their way there in spite of tremendous odds... I dream of the firmament that lies below the ocean, the mountain that holds up that small span of land." There are both oceans and mountains behind the craggy stories in "Yes, Yes, Cherries." Otis peoples her stories with quirky characters who have all manner of limitations on their perceptions. As the narrator in one of the stories puts it, "Everyone here looks like they could use a little help." Her examples of eclectic and nomadic life forms are experienced through vivid details that bring her characters sharply into focus, details that give the reader an understanding not only of the characters themselves, but of the vast world they inhabit. Their worlds obviously extend as far as Mosley's limitless horizon of the sea." The stories in this collection are surprising, but somehow feel just right as they wend their way through many divergent paths of the human condition. They're a delight to read and a pleasure to think about. They nudge their way into the craggy atolls of our brain and settle there, in spite of tremendous odds.

In Yes, Yes, Cherries, Mary Otis accomplishes the fabulous magic trick of tilting the world with her prose. You will put the book down and your carpeting, the content of your freezer, your ex, your life, will all look different for a moment. Ms. Otis's writing is remarkable and surprising, shimmering with rare brilliance and clarity. The characters in Yes, Yes, Cherries shine with that quality we look for in all great fiction: truth.

This is a warning: Mary Otis' stories will break your heart. Now that you've been warned, order this book and prepare yourself for wrenching and exquisitely written portraits of loneliness and yearning, peopled with characters who want what we all want--love and acceptance and control over their lives--only they keep making the wrong choices. Just one vivid and memorable example comes in "Stones," when in a split instant, Allison's desire to appear lighthearted and carefree leads her to throw a rock into the air, except the rock hits her ex-husband's girlfriend's child in the head. It is an unexpected moment, and one which leaves you with your mouth agape. The hopelessness of Allison's life hits hard, because such random things can happen to any of us. Mary is such an assured writer, and on a sentence-to-sentence basis, her best stories can leave you breathless. She is the kind of writer who loves language and finds new ways to twist and mold it to illuminate complex emotion and the human spirit itself. This collection is a refreshing debut and I'll be looking forward to seeing more of Mary's work in the years to come.

The stories in this collection are incredible. I've already read them twice. It's the kind of book you wish would not end, and I can't wait for the next one. All the elements of great writing can be found in its pages. The stories are well crafted, full of interesting characters, funny, sad, beautiful, and unique. It's a work worthy of literary prizes and praise. Wonderful!