Toy Guns: Stories

By Lisa Norris

Review from the Kansas City Star, Sunday, October 29, 2000 by John Mark Eberhart. The trouble with didatic fiction is that the message sometimes overshadows the art. Once in awhile, though a writer... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 188423531X
• ISBN13: 9781884235313
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Helicon Nine Editions
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Library Journal Review

Life is dangerous in Norris's first collection, which won the 1999 Willa Cather Fiction Prize. There's no safety even for the innocent, like Joe in "Prisoner of War," who ends up in the middle of some war games while hiking near his home, or Anna and Beth in "Black Ice," who take a ride in the mountains and get caught in an ice storm. In the title story, a toy gun leads to a confrontation; in "Stray Dogs," a young girl lies and steals after being followed by a stray dog; and in "Interior Country," a woman fleeing her abusive husband ends up witnessing a murder. In the ironic "Trailer People," a researcher receives consolation from the people being studied, and in "Swimming," an extra marital affair leads to disaster. Reminiscent of Raymond Carver, these ten stories have a powerful impact that keeps reverberating long after you finish reading them. Highly recommended.--Joshua Cohen, Mid-Hudson Lib. syst., Poughkeepsie, NY