Coming Attractions is an annual collection of three stories by each of three up-and-coming Canadian writers, a format that allows one to really get a sense of the writers’ voices. In the ’08 edition, Rebecca Rosenblum, Daniel Griffin, and Alice Petersen show why they are gaining ground in the writing world, with short tales like a series of candid photographs. They offer quick glimpses into the lives of people passed day to day without a second thought: the waitress serving your morning coffee, the family man to whom you sold your car, the secretary at the high school you attended.
The characters brought to life in each story seem, at a quick glance, just on the cusp of existence. Almost unnoticeable at first, they appear to be the most ordinary of people. Yet the young man nervously awaits forced fatherhood; the student is passing the time until the scars of abuse fade away; the widow, a photographer who once thought herself free-spirited, wonders how to be around her dead partner’s other lover. The people in these short stories are visibly flawed, bruised, and broken down; some of their losses are hidden, others more obvious. All of them embody the theme of this anthology, looping loss and longing, stringing along regret, what ifs, unspoken defeat.
Rosenblum’s descriptive style is saddening and brilliant, revealing the shadows everyone hides in, the excuses everyone makes, the mundane moments of day-to-day life –- tired feet, old and worn office equipment, and overhearing the neighbours’ screaming matches — but all somehow captivating, complete with distinctly Canadian details such as the rare joy of paying Montreal rent in Toronto.
The heartbreaking, often hopeless complications of family ties in Griffin’s stories illustrate intricate relationships, most beyond repair. Exhausted, the characters all desire a change they know may come too late. Griffin traces their disappointments and uncertainties. One man tries to reason with a brother who’s gone over the edge after a break-up; another tries to distract from the disappointments of his own daily life by becoming completely engrossed with another family’s.
Montrealer Alice Petersen’s short stories scratch the surface of her characters’ lives, drawing the reader in but leaving many questions unanswered. She writes expressively; one can almost taste the bananas in the Jean-Talon Market, see the deep purple glare off the aubergines. Her characters do their best to deal with grief, scattering their lover’s ashes or surrendering to the loss of a parent; they leave the reader lingering in their sadness.
These three Canadians have grasped and perfected a rare skill: the art of writing about the most trivial tasks, the most desperately apathetic, lost people, and making it a captivating read. Rosenblum, Griffin, and Petersen make Coming Attractions 08 a smart, compelling piece of work.
Meaghan Isaacs is a writer, flitting back and forth between Montreal and her hometown of Ottawa, where she is based (for now).
