Our Children Are Not Our Children

Stories that will stay with you for a long time

The five “tiny tales” in this collection of short shorts are like slices of life, glimpses into the lives of some pretty selfish people. In “Car Trip,” you have the father who refuses to pull over to the side of the road so his children can relieve themselves, a story told entirely in dialogue. I felt like I was in the car with these people, the parents yelling at each other, the children crying. In contrast, Brennan also presents us with “Overexposure,” a story about a dad who is a nudist and who wants his children to have the freedom to go to school in the nude.

Brennan has a gift for characterization. One line that will always stay with me: “The wife is as white and particulate at the top of the stairs as a pillar of salt.” He could have said she’s as white as a pillar of salt, but he added the word “particulate” so there’s an added dimension to the description of the wife. Something that is uniquely her. Brennan incorporates details that make the characters stand out that much more from each other. In “Day Care,” a mom works for the DMV and purposely takes bad pictures of drivers. She may have a boring job, but that bit of info tells you what kind of person she really is.

What fascinated me about these stories was how oblivious the parents seemed to be, how unaware they were of the impact they were having on their children. Brennan captures the dark side of family life but in a way that is entertaining and thought-provoking. He packs a lot of story into each of these five tales, each one as satisfying as a novel. I highly recommend this book, and I am looking forward to reading more by Kevin Brennan.