Junk

The complexity of life. Of love. Of betrayal. Of lust. And death. Of any interaction. Human or otherwise.

Junk is a microcosm of life anywhere in middle-America, but it might be any neighborhood in any town, in any city, where life in all its forms is unveiled in this series of cleverly linked short stories. The neighborhood is overshadowed by the looming demolition that will make way for a housing and commercial development. And so it is with the lives of the longtime residents of Boynden Street as they are dismantled and dispersed to give way to the new.

The residents of Boynden Street lead lives as shabby and worn as the buildings and weedy sidewalks that surround them. A junkyard, soon to be demolished, connects other dilapidated homes to a once thriving local store and a seedy down-at-heel bar. Here we find a relatable, even loving entourage of ordinary people with unique stories that, in their convolutions echo our own.

We meet Bob, a gentle young man, permanently disabled through a head trauma who quickly becomes homeless through a series of mishaps, joining other homeless people living in and around the Boynden Street junkyard, where they are able to scrape together a few sustaining dollars trading junk. The owner of the junkyard, Michael, a tough yet compassionate man, takes Bob under his wing, initially providing him shelter, unpaid work and ultimately a home. The discovery of Elise, the daughter of Russian emigres, several weeks dead in her bed, reveals in a series of stories the twists of fate that led to her desolate end. Further along the street, the Italian shop-owners Vince and Tina Mangano, their once thriving corner store now a skeleton of faded awnings and brittle peeling signage, reflects what was once the embodiment of their hopes and dreams of a bountiful life in a new country. A curious addition to the collection, is the first-hand commentary of the philosophical junkyard cat, Gus, one that is as integrated as the humans that have cared for him. There are many other characters that provide depth, color and vivacity to this story, not one superfluous, such is the craftsmanship of the writer.

Junk is our life. Your neighbor’s life. Your neighborhood. Your city. A story of love, compassion, brutality, injustice, futility; the human condition, which marks us all.