Reading Journal: The Reverse Cowgirl, by David Whitton (2011)

Another book by another Canadian writer who studied with Zsuzsi Gartner (see: Sarah Selecky, Matthew J. Trafford), David Whitton sets most of his stories in stomping grounds familiar to me: London, Ontario and Middlesex County. I'm sure it's not the first time Middlesex County has been named in Canadian Literature, but it was nice to see. Like Trafford, Whitton works often in the "grounded fantastic," wacky sci-fi-esque scenarios in which the story is less about the crazy stuff going on than about the characters' relationships. The opener, "Gargoyles," kicks off its action with a chunk of a cement gargoyle falling comically on the passing-by protagonist, knocking her down from local legend to local slut, though her beau, Richard, loves her regardless. I was less into the more imaginative "Twilight of the Gods" - set on a spaceship - and the title story, a Groundhog Day-esque journey through Paris that's also a love triangle, than I was the more realistic stories. "The Eclipse," about setting up one's derelict brother on a date, and "The Lee Marvins," about two rough-and-tumble tow truck drivers, were touching and funny and uninterruptible. Finally, "Raspberries," which can't be missed: an old widow keeps receiving a mysterious visitor, and against her better judgment, she begins indulging his attempts to make her suspect that her husband is in fact not dead. All in all, in The Reverse Cowgirl, you'll find some of the more original writing being done in Canada today, all of it matter-of-fact and witty in tone.