Why Visit America - Matthew Baker

Description

Welcome, dear visitor, to a proud and storied nation. When you put down this guidebook, look around you. A nation isn't land. A nation is people.

Equal parts speculative and satirical, the stories in Matthew Baker's collection portray a world within touching distance of our own. This is an America riven by dilemmas confronting so many of us, turned on its head by one of the most innovative voices of the moment.

Read together, these parallel-universe stories create a composite portrait of our true nature and a dark reflection of the world we live in.

Review

This book of short stories won't suit everyone. Cleverly written with such imagination and creative writing, each one is a story set in a future America - although that future could be nearer rather than farther away from us in some of the stories. It's a little like Black Mirror.

The writing style is unique with the descriptive nature of the prose coming in the main from very long paragraphs and sometimes lists. It's certainly effective in bringing home the message but as I said it won't be for everyone.

The first story was quite tragic and upsetting for me. It took me a while to fully realise what was happening and this is true of most of the stories, as you seem to fall into them and then slowly they unfold and explain themselves. Some of the stories left me wanting an explanation or an "ending" which is usually how I feel about them in general.

The last story will remain with me for some time. It's called "To Be Read Backward" and I actually read it twice to try to fully grasp it.

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars and my thanks to the author and Pigeonhole for being able to read along.

Comments

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