Hemingway once said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit at a typewriter and bleed.” That may be true, but a bottle of wine won’t hurt, and that is essentially what’s to be found in this slim volume of unique and powerful stories and parables. Author Pae Veo explores the life lessons to be learned in his often-Kafkaesque realms: isolation, failure, addiction, moral dilemmas and the … absurdities of everyday life. In places where hope rarely ventures, imagination usually does; take it lightly, and drink as much as necessary—but by all means, excuse the blood.
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Most times I find it real hard to give a short story or mixed media collection a 5 star rating. By its nature, some things will connect while others hit the mark and this is so almost by design. Even my favorite writers don’t always hit the mark and it takes someone like Lovecraft for me to go, holy hell, what was that, over and over. ALL of this waffly intro said, I’d give this a 4.5 stars but round it up to 5 for a couple of reasons.
Pae Veo has collected a very eclectic and odd assortment of writings for Searching for Marilyn Monroe. The Title story might be a hit and miss with people, but for me there was more hit than miss. Firstly, the description of the heat, weather, and lack of seasonality of Puerto Rico was spot on and has to be something absurdly odd for people. That said, Wallace reminds me of Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye), which is a peculiar choice for comparison. Whereas I consider Catcher in the Rye a mood piece and don’t really get why some people consider it their favorite book, in a shorter format, I found it working better. What I also appreciated was how often paragraphs read like snapshots I could clear see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. It had that feel but also elements of Leonard Lawrence (Full Metal Jacket). It’s an uncomfortable read at times, but definitely captures someone who has lost their way countless times and in that sense, it feels real. It feels real because after comparisons to fictitious characters in film and books, I thought of someone I know, who although no to the level of Wallace, plenty of his traits reminded me of someone. In the second story, Mr. Improve’s obsessive compulsive behavior and thought pattern was fascinating to see. The Song of Erebus is one I suspect might be miss with a couple of people, since it begs to be read more than once. Then comes Fifty Three, and here’s one example of why I’m happy to give this collection 5 stars. This short story is the type of thing you read and you go, “how the hell did he come up with that?” and page after page, the style, dynamic, phrasing, and development are worthy of being included in literature books to be THE Story why you keep a huge ass book or just cut out this story. One of the best short stories I’ve read in the last decade and a half. Then, there was Fleck, which was a good short story, but if you ask me, I would have finished with Fifty Three, which is a mic drop.
Then the collection has two other sections, Parables and Animals. Parables has some pieces that are alright, and others that just smack you across the face, which I love. For me, particularly poignant was The Guard. Also enjoyed A Bar Named Work and the section was a lot of fun for me, with these short writes. Finally, the collection finishes with Animals. Although set up in prose, this was poetry for me and I found myself reading the second onward out loud. It’s good if you know what Pae’s writing about, but if you don’t, the rhythm and rhyme is enough to make you indulge. It’s not every day I read something that invites me to read out loud and I can’t think of a better recommendation for anyone when they come to this section.
This is a curious collection and although not perfect (and what the hell is), it invites to re-read and that alone is reason enough for me to recommend diving in. Don’t be surprised if you feel the need to read parts out loud and if it happens, indulge, because why not?