FICTION

White Tiger on Snow Mountain

by David Gordon
New Harvest. Oct. 2014. 272p. ISBN 9780544343740. $25. F
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Gordon brings his proven strengths as a novelist and mystery writer (The Serialist; Mystery Girl) to this debut story collection. Among the most memorable pieces here are a set of linked stories that recount an urban boyhood featuring time spent at a grimy neighborhood movie theater ("Vampires of Queens"), boring afternoons in which two boys experience the joy of throwing unspeakably gross personal items from the windows of a high-rise apartment building on unsuspecting passersby ("Matinee"), and years later the same two boys getting lost in the woods on a camping trip while high on LSD ("I Think of Demons"). In other stories, Gordon weaves together elements of noir-ish suspense, magic realism, and skewed romance to memorable effect.
VERDICT With the exception of a few embedded narratives (including a remarkable series of text messages in the title story), these stories are all written in the first person, a strategy that has both benefits and drawbacks. The benefit is that the voice becomes familiar and reliable, providing continuity from story to story. The drawback is that the individual pieces sometimes feel less distinct, blurring the effect of the collection as a whole. With this slight caveat, the book can be recommended as an impressive collection that will expand this writer's audience and please those already familiar with his many gifts.
Reviewed by Sue Russell, Bryn Mawr, PA , Oct 01, 2014
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