An Ambulance Is on the Way
Stories of Men in Trouble
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- ¥780
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- ¥780
Publisher Description
National Jewish Book Award finalist Jonathan Wilson’s uproariously funny stories showcase the neuroses of suburban men as they ruminate, self-medicate, and acclimate to the rhythms of middle age.
From the slacker husband who spends his day running household errands, chatting up the local soccer moms, and drinking most of the wine he was instructed to buy for his wife’s women’s-group meeting, to the man who calls an old girlfriend while waiting for the verdict from his cardiologist, to the good Jewish son who is torn between the caustic wit of his very Jewish mother and the fertility urges of his very not-Jewish girlfriend, each of these stories is touched by Wilson’s affection for male foibles. Taken together, they give us a nuanced picture of men in hot water–with women, their teenage kids, and their own consciences.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Medical crises bring modest epiphanies in a collection of 11 lightly comic, contemplative stories by the author of A Palestine Affair. In "Mini-Joe," a man who believes he has a serious heart ailment calls an old ex-girlfriend; a humorously poignant conversation ensues before he learns it was a false alarm and vows to become a better man. In "Dead Ringers," a man with prostate problems and a crotchety mother finally goes to tend the grave of a brother who died in infancy. The title story is the most fully articulated rendering of the motif, as an MRI prompts a man to conduct a thorough re-examination of his life. Unavoidably, the conceit wears thin, as the stories range from thoughtful and moving to fragmented and ironic. But Wilson also plumbs the middle-aged Jewish male psyche through different routes: "Tosh" puts the spotlight on a Mallorca drug dealer and womanizer who is set up for a bust by one of his dates; "Fat Twins" observes a father's attempt to connect with his teenage son on a trip to Jamaica. "Fundamentals," a highlight of the collection, tells of its female American narrator's seduction by a British Jew and her subsequent discovery of his true identity. Wilson is a deft, subtle writer who often neatly turns the tables on his protagonists to reveal the surprising inside the mundane.
