Charles D'Ambrosio, The Dead Fish Museum

The Dead Fish Museum

Charles D'Ambrosio

Knopf, Apr 2006, $22.00

ISBN 1400042860

The amazing thing about this octet is how fully developed the key characters, and in some cases the support protagonists are; this level of depth usually requires a novel, and that often fails to produce well rounded players like Charles D'Ambrosio has done with his short stories (and a few short novellas). The prime players share in common a fatal flaw that they fail to recognize, as each one deceives themselves on what is causing their woes and how to fix their unhappiness. Instead they tend to misread the tea leaves and compound their inner turmoil and discord. All the inclusions are excellent, and the collection will be recognized as one of the year's best anthologies, with its insight into human needs and desires thwarted by personal negative traits in which rationalization, passing culpability and coping become the norm. The fascinating tales such as the twisted obsessive "Up North", with the husband fixated on bringing justice to the unknown family friend who raped his wife when she was a teen, grip readers as few compilations can.