Hugh Alter wrote this review.
There is a particular merit to the short story form. It allows you to skate by on pure literary talent when purpose you are working with a premise that would not stand up to anything longer. Neil Smith has clearly perfected this art; Bang/Crunch is a collection of stories that are charming, perfect, and beautifully written, but would be completely insufferable were they any longer.
Of the nine short stories in the collection, there are a few that have frustratingly mundane concepts – including the after school special topics of a teenager questioning his sexuality and one about surviving cancer. These premises, although dull, are rescued to a one by delicate and finely crafted prose; there're few words out of place in the book, and not a sentence that doesn't feel like it has been distilled down.
Those stories where the quality of the
concept matches the writing – the title foremost among them – are
marvelous things, and all of the stories do end up compelling. I
don't mean this to be a negative review, because Bang/Crunch is
wonderful to read and the product of a spectacular writer. It's just
that it feels a bit like a nice new paint job on a rickety shack. Very nice on the outside, but I wouldn't want to stay long. Buy at Amazon
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