Baby's On Fire

Baby's On Fire, by Liz Prato

I'm not really much of a short story person. I'd always prefer reading a novel. In fact, I didn't actually know this was fiction until I reached the beginning of the second story!! (Yes, I know it says "Stories" on the front!)

My first exposure to Liz Prato was when I heard her read at a book launch for Brave on the Page, an anthology of essays by and interviews with Oregon writers, in which my husband was also featured. Her autobiographical piece immediately drew me in....full of stark, gut-wrenching detail. I knew she was a writer to watch.

...So I was excited to read Baby's On Fire, the first book she's written (and I didn't know it was short stories). You know you've found a good short story, when you wish it were a novel...and that's how I felt about many of these stories.

One thread runs through these stories: the characters have been scarred by tough times. In the title story, for example, the unemployed, depressed main character arrives home in Portland to discover her family's house had been burned to the ground.

Two other sad stories in particular made me want more: "The Adventures of a Maya Queen" and Riding to the Shore," interestingly, both involving cancer. And one story, "Covered in Red Dirt," takes place in Hawaii, always an intriguing setting for me.

In each story, Prato paints a beautiful, if sometimes heart-breaking, picture of lives lived hard and people who have been through the wars. She too has survived more than one heart should bear, and it shows in her work. A person who hasn't experienced deep losses could not write like this and could not represent these characters' lives and thoughts so well.

Multnomah County Library named Baby's on Fire as one of its best books of 2015. I feel fortunate to know such a talented writer who creates touching stories that stick with you for days.

Life among the Lutherans: Midwestern Lutheran lore

Life among the Lutherans by Garrison Keillor

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I think if I had been a midwestern Lutheran, especially from Minnesota (said with a Minnesota accent), I would have appreciated this book more. I found parts of it very entertaining and funny, but scanned other parts to get to the end.

Another challenge in enjoying this book is that I am not a great fan of short stories. Essentially, this is a book of Lake Woebegone short stories about Lutherans, which probably would be more enjoyable to listen to on the radio.

These are the parts I truly enjoyed:

*The chapter entitled "The Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra," in which it is explained that the only instruments a Lutheran can play are the drums and the harp. Percussionists learn patience. "A percussionist may have to wait for 20 minutes just to play a few beats, but those beats have to be exact. All that the epistles of Paul say a Christian should be--faithful, waiting, trusting, filled with fervor, hopeful--are the qualities of the good percussionist." "The other Lutheran instrument, of course, is the harp. It's made for a very nice peson with strong forearms. You almost never see a harpist with a cigarette dangling out of her mouth...it takes hours to tune a harp, which remains in tune for about 10 minutes...it's an instrument for a saint."

*The chapter about church organists, who "despise stillness. They're sitting there with the organ equivalent of a 300-hp Ferrari and they want to put the pedal to the metal and make that baby fly."

*The fact that the Lutheran minister's wife is a good feminist and is horrified when her daughter Kate wants to change her name to "Kathy."

*When the congregation spends the money they would normally spend to send the pastor on vacation and instead purchases a very expensive book filled with what they think are the pastor's best sermons (many of which, he thinks, are his worst).

I'm a lifelong Lutheran and attended a Lutheran univeristy; however, I don't think I'm midwest Lutheran enough to be able to truly relate to many of these anecdotes. It's worth a chuckle.



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