A review by tdstorm
Not Normal, Illinois: Peculiar Fictions from the Flyover by Michael Martone

2.0

My personal tastes run toward peculiarity of plot and character rather than story form. Martone's tastes seem to run a little more toward experiments with form. For me, too many of these stories were self-indulgent, too clever, and ultimately not that much fun to read or ponder. There were a few exceptions. I enjoyed Michael Wilkerson's "Luna Moth," George Saunders's "The Red Bow," Kellie Wells's "Secession, XX," Curtis White's "Metaphysics of the Midwest" (until the end), and a few others (by Scott Russell Sanders, Deb Olin Unferth, Ander Monson, and Janet Kauffman). The best by far: Louise Erdrich's "Fuck with Kayla and You Die." Absolutely phenomenal. But there are 33 stories in this collection, and the majority are disappointing.