Precarious: Stories of Love, Sex, and Misunderstanding

By Al Riske

The stories in Precarious are about doing the right thing and regretting it. About making bets and dancing naked. They play out in rain-soaked Seattle and drought-stricken California. On a tiny island and in a vast desert filled with light and heat and sand that slips through your fingers like friendships you once had. In prose that is by turns spare and lyrical, these stories capture the feeling of late summer. A never-ending game of Kick the Can. All sense of time lost among the stars.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1096005433
• ISBN13: 9781096005438
• Release Date: December 2020
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Thought-provoking stories by a talented writer

"Precarious" is an intriguing collection of true-to-life stories about the often complicated relationships between men and women. These life-like characters will immediately evoke people you know; your friends, neighbors, and maybe even yourself. Their anxieties, doubts, joys, and delights are the same ones all of us - or at least all men - have felt in one way or another. In my favorite story, "Your Eyes Only," Riske adds a bit of a sci-fi twist to probe our view of masculinity in a fascinating and unexpected way. Riske is a skilled craftsman of language, providing just enough detail of the settings and characters to form them clearly without cluttering things and distracting from the story. His dialogue is tight and focused, and right on the mark. These are stories utterly familiar yet thought-provoking at the same time.

15 stories about everyday people

"Precarious" is a book of 15 stories about everyday people, their lives, loves, hopes, fears, misunderstandings and so much more. It`ll take you out of the room you`re in and into the midst of the story. You'll feel a range of emotions; it will make you laugh, cry, angry, hopeful and even bring back long forgotten memories. Have you every mistaken a touch by someone, felt misunderstood or that someone misunderstood what you were trying to say, felt disappointment in someone you loved, or thought they were disappointed in you? Then, I'm sure you'll see yourself in one or two of these stories. It's like a trip down memory lane, different people and places, but somehow the same. Al Riske has written a book about people that are very much like you and me. Most of the stories are tied up neatly, but a few of them left me hanging, and I wanted to know what came next. Others felt that there was something missing; I wanted to know what he left out. Then I realized that this was probably his intent, keep them guessing and wanting more! This is his first book, you'd never know it. He writes like a seasoned author and knows how to keep you turning the pages as fast as you can. This book will stay with you long after you close it and put it away. You'll no doubt pick it up again for a second read, maybe even a third. If you haven't read "Precarious", I encourage you to do so. You won't be sorry that you did.

Excellent short stories

Reviewed by Victoria Gonzalez for Reader Views (02/10) This is a fascinating book. You won't want to put it down. It is very different and unique. The title is perfect, the characters in each of the stories are balancing precariously on their decisions; one wrong move and they could regret it, then again, they might regret making the right decision too. These stories aren't offensive in any way, so don't let the title deter you from reading this wonderful collection of short stories. Instead, these stories are poetic, real, and thoughtful. My favorite story is "Sleeping with Smiley." It perfectly captures the feelings teenagers have before they go to college, and the types of relationships that they seek. When one boy has the opportunity to sleep with Smiley, his best friend's girlfriend, the results are real and stirring. Some of the longer stories present characters with a lot of depth, and the shorter stories seem to focus more on feelings and your own ideas about the characters. Riske is a skilled writer, and the stories capture your attention and interest as you are reading them, and will hold your attention for long after you are finished reading. You may even want to reread the collection. The amount of dialogue and description in these stories is perfect. It is as if the conversations are all real and have occurred; some of them are deceptively simple: "The thing is I had no idea what I wanted to say and nothing was coming to me. `Lost your tongue?' she asked. `No,' I said, and pulled her to me. For one second we just stood there, chest to chest. Then she kissed me hard, as if kissing were a way of fighting back." I highly recommend this extraordinary book to anyone who wants to experience these real and complex stories, and almost make them their own. You will enjoy each page of this book, and hope that there is just one more when you are finished reading. Each of the characters has something to tell you, each of the stories has a different, sometimes wonderful, and sometimes poignant ending. I think that you will really enjoy "Precarious" by Al Riske, I certainly did.

A Raymond Carver for our time.

Riske's spare and thoughtful style remind me of Raymond Carver--but without the pervasive sense of despair. In these stories, love is still possible.

Great stories, beautifully written

One of my best childhood memories was summer break, when I could stretch out on a hammock with a stack of books next to me and just read. I've retained that love of reading over the years, and admit that with my Kindle, I've never been more hooked. But print or electronic, when I love a book, I reread it. So I find myself re-reading Elizabeth Stout's book, Olive Kitteridge, at the same time that I'm reading Al Riske's new book, Precarious, for the first time. What a lovely combination. Al's book is a compilation of short stories, and what he shares with Ms. Stout is his ability to tell a good story beautifully. No gimmicks. No flash. Just wonderful storytelling, in all of its understated glory. These are stories that you find yourself in - the highest compliment I can pay an author. You see your own foibles and, if you're lucky, an occasional glance at your own grace. Greedy reader that I am, the day Al's book finally arrived, I canceled all meetings and put chores on the back burner so I could curl up and read. But I found myself putting the book down after just the first story. Why? Because I didn't want to finish the book too quickly. These are stories I wanted to relish. So I've rationed the book to myself, allowing only one story a day. It gives me something to look forward to, and a reward for being good - or a small piece of self-forgiveness if I haven't. Find yourself a comfortable chair, a good light and a cup of tea. Open Al's book and be transported in the loveliest way possible.