What We Know About the Lost Aztec Children

Another kind of strange story...

McCraken's story is about a simply, common family except for the fact that their mother has no arms. The family defines this as the unique part of their family. The wacky history of the mother is revealed when Uncle Plazo comes to town. Uncle P is a strange, little man who was once apart of the Lost Aztec Children with his brother which was an act in a circus. The mother was also apart of the circus, which is how Uncle Plazo and her met. Uncle Plazo pops into their lives out of nowhere and ends up staying in their house until he dies (he's old to begin with).

I felt this story lacked the depth and exciting plot which the other short stories had. However something I did take away from it was the lesson which I think she was trying to teach: people can be physically different which does not make them mentally incompetent. This is a battle which both the mother and Uncle Plazo have dealt with throughout their lives.

Mercedes Kane

The short story "Mercedes Kane" is about a girl, Ellen, who wants nothing more than to be a prodigy. She doesn't care what she is amazing at; music, math, writing...as long as its something. She is inspired by Mercedes Kane, during Ellen's childhood Kane was a child prodigy who was a published author and spoke six languages by the time she was eight. The story flashes forward in time and Ellen is now a single mother of an unmoitvated, unenthusiastic teenage daughter, Ruthie. Ironically, one day Ellen spots Kane walking in the street and it utterly rejoyced to have the opportunity to meet the renowned genious she dreamed of being like. Kane shacks up in thier home where Ellen smothers her with compliments, which Kane refuses to accept. Kane leaves in the middle of the night after staying in their house for a week. Ellen is upset when they awake and realize she has left.

I like how this was a well told story, but underneath the dialouge and description there was a message. Each woman in the story was some how dealing with issues of self image and perception. For example, while talking to Ruthie, Kane reveals that she has never felt pretty. She was always under a microscope which illuminated her insecurities. Now, later in life, she refuses to recognize her genius abilities because they remind her of her past struggles. I thought this was a coming of age story. One has to learn to reconcile with who they are and what they want to be. Can we more than one thing? Is there only one definition of successful? How can personal success be measured? Ellen wanted to be smart, Kane wanted to be pretty. Should we try to change ourselves or accept what we fated to? McCraken has the abilities to make people reflect and think about themselves with this story, because it is a relateable topic of human desire.

The Bar of our Recent Unhappiness

The third story in this collection is about a man, Jake, whose wife went into a coma after suffering a head trauma when she was hit by a car. Jake meets George in the bar outside of the home Jake's wife and George's mother stay in. George and Jake become friends becuase of thier commen suffering. The story is told through the perspective of Jake, who is fighting with himself, between contiuning to love his wife and moving on because he knows she will never get better.

I thought this was a sad, depressing story. Jake tries to justify him wanting to move on by convinving himself that his wife wants to die. It's ironic that I read this story at this time, becuase last night I was watching an  episode of Grey's Anatomy and it dealt with a similar situation: person in a vegitative state, do we move on or hope for a miracle? So last night I thought of the situation as a doctor: she shows signs of brain function, she has been making progress in the home, we still have a chance. Then I thought of this story as Jake; my wife my never speak, walk, think again, how can I reconcile my wanting to move on with her still being alive. It's a incredibly hard position to be in. McCracken does a good job of allowing readers to dig deep into Jake's inner thoughts. For example, she writes, "I am a man of small mistakes. I am not competen. This is not harsh self-judgement, it is fact. I have burned food all my life; I wear spotted clothing without noticing; I botch household jobs." By taking these small, insignificant actions of Jake's daily life the author highlights his struggle with his wife. His wife would have been the one to cook and remind him to clean, things a wife would do. Since she is still alive he feels like he has an obligation to her and is unable to revive his sense of living.

Some Have Entertained Angels, Unaware

       This short story, by McCracken, is vastly different from the first story I read. I found this surprising, especially because they are from the same collection of stories, I was expecting to be able to draw a similarity between the two. This story is about a father who opens and runs a boarding house after he is widowed, left with two children. Mid way through the story, the father abruptly quits his job and deserts his children, leaving them to the care of the occupants of his boarding house.
      Stylistically, I found this to be unique to the first. The second one is a hybrid between poetry and short story writing. I found she utilizes techniques like varied sentence structure, heightened imagery, colorful diction and extended metaphor. Not to say that these can't be used in short story writing, however I felt like the story read more like a poem in comparison to the previous story. I found the use of extended metaphor to make this story have a deeper fold. The father was a librarian by profession; the author uses this to characterize his action as well as to describe the boarders and the house. For example she compares all of the boarders' stories to books in a library. This metaphor helped to bring deeper meaning to the father's overloaded brain as well as the shed light on the confusing life his family led...it was something he couldn't simply organize which is why he felt he needed to run away.
       Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this change in her style of writing. It shows McCracken is a versatile, risk taking writer, a very admirable quality.  I'm excited to read what comes next!

It's Bad Luck to Die by Elizabeth McCracken

I'm a huge sucker for hopelessly romantic stories, and this one struck my heart. As I turned to the last page of this short story, tears streamed down my face. It seems dramatic, but true. I'm that girl: the one that cries when books are over, when they score the winning touchdown or when she finds love despite her evil stepmother. It's Bad Luck to Die is a story about a girl, Lois, who at eighteen meets her future husband, Tiny (49) at his tattoo parlor. Readers see Lois' personal growth through her marriage to Tiny. She begins the story as "blank." Throughout their married life, Tiny tattoos hundreds of works of art over Lois' body. At the end of the book Lois realizes that not only Tiny, but the tattoos help her to be a complete person, they tell the story of who she is and she is proud to wear them (which is despite her mother's protests). Sadly, (here's the tear jerker part), Tiny dies at the end and Lois is left to survive and exist without her love. Although she is stared at for being the "tattoo lady" she describes her body as "a love letter," which always reminds her of Tiny and the journey he brought her on. 

After reading the first story in this collection, I'm excited to read the rest. I loved McCraken's use of extended metaphor: the tattoos, to represent love and growth of the main character. She describes tattoos as "something that can't be stolen, pawned, lost, forgotten or outgrown." I think this statement is describing her love for Tiny; although they were an odd couple, it didn't matter because they were meant for each other. Secondly, I think it is a metaphor for Lois' personal growth. At the start of the story she is awkward, uncomfortably tall and unsure of what she wants. After she marries Tiny and gets her first tattoo she begins to feel like she is gaining a sense of self. She uses her body as a form of self expression, it becomes a drawing board for her thoughts, wishes, dreams... The tattoos give her an identity, they are completely unique to her.