Andrew Smith's Reviews > Why Visit America

Short story collections can be tricky, it’s rare that all stories are to your liking so judgement on a collection’s merits usually boils down to the balance of those that capture your interest versus those that don’t. Unfortunately, of the fourteen stories here, only two really worked for me.

There is a mix of what I would describe as apocalyptic tales, some that might fit the loose description ascribed to science fiction and others that attempt to be wryly amusing (note: all of the latter missed the mark for me). Each seems to pick on a moral issue, current in American society, and explores it in a novel way. The writing is clever, there’s no doubt about that, and yet most of the stories failed to engage me, and a few had me skipping on to the next tale well before the end. A couple that did initially prick my interest ended suddenly – unresolved, like a joke without its punchline.

It’s a pity, as the topics themselves were often interesting: a society that decides suicide at age seventy is the answer to preserve resources for others; the ability to transition from your own body to an online only presence; a world in which men have largely been eradicated due to their predilection for violence and abuse; universal childcare being introduced to avoid the pitfalls of poor or abusive parenting. But the execution often made me feel depressed or I felt that the story lapsed into something less captivating than the subject matter would suggest.

The two stories I enjoyed most concerned:

1. The ability to ‘wash’ the memory of a convicted criminal for a period decided by the court (e.g. for the past year or the whole of the person’s life). Basic life skills only would be retained in respect of the most severe sentences.
2. The prize for winning a lottery being the opportunity (for a sizable fee) to spend the night with the master of sex, a mysterious woman with untold skills.

In summary, an uneven collection is the norm but not one that provides only fifteen per cent satisfaction. It’s a two star rating from me, I’m afraid.