The title story from Stacy Bierlein's A Vacation on the Island of Ex-Boyfriends starts:
In three days we have played, cried, ran, fought, laughed, danced, and built fires with them all--every man we've ever wanted. We're exhausted.
The two women the story is about get sidetracked on their way to Nantucket and end up on an island where each of their entire list of former boyfriends is lined up along the beach. It's a fantastic scenario and Bierlein plays it out interestingly right on through to the end. Anna, the narrator, goes through her list chronologically, though is surprised by the inclusion of Michael--a man she had a one-night stand with--he was told by the person on the Ferry that brought eveybody to this special island that they'd apparently had an emotional connection.
Bierlein does a nice and subtle job of differentiating the two women and their personalities by describing the actions of their respective boyfriends on the islands--Anna's seem quiet and pretty introspective while Tammi's are louder, engaging with each other, and still trying to curry favor with each other.
The ending, having to do with Michael and Anna has Bierlein commenting, again with great nuance, about how both men and women view relationships, as well as how they communicate.
A full review of the entire collection is forthcoming here at the EWN--the half I've finished so far though has been great reading.
Interesting concept! Not exactly time travel, which I write about, but certainly some alternate dimension, it sounds like to me.
I didn't realize it was short story month, but I have been writing a mini-series on my blog. Perhaps that can be my National Short Story Month contribution!
Posted by: Dr. Theodore Homa | May 25, 2012 at 03:25 PM