Short Story Month - Room 601 by Mark Costello

"Room 601" comes from author Mark Costello's Middle Murphy (University of Illinois Press, 1991), the sequel to his amazing The Murphy Stories (University of Illinois, 1973).  I'd like to say I hope we don't have to wait so long for the next collection of Murphy stories, but it's already been that long.    

Certain there are certain places I should never in my life have grown old enough to go, I stand once more as I stood earlier this evening, beside my toilet-sitting mother.  Hoping to feel through the thinness of her shoulder, a rattle of urination however faint, I look at the chain on the wall of the bathroom of Room 601.  It says:  "Pull For Help" and staring at it, I wonder as I've often wondered, what would happen if I pulled it.

Costello writes of Michael Murphy, in the Murphy stories he tells.  They tend to be hard stories, introspective stories, and frequently include his mother, a woman readers of Costello eventually might begin to worry about, along with their worries for Michael.  Beyond this mining of very specific material, Costello also has a way about his wording, a rhythm and repetition pattern to it.

Note in the above paragraph - the usage of certain and certain, stand and stood, wonder and wondered.  There is the phrasing of toilet-sitting mother.  Costello digs deep into Murphy's life, and in this particular story, that of his family (many of whom have died while being tended to in this room, Room 601, at this specific hospital), and he does so with his very own flairs in terms of the language he uses. 

There isn't a ton of output from Costello, 13 stories in all between the two collections, but every single one of them should be read, especially by those reading this that wish to become better writers themselves.  While I wouldn't be excited about the title, I'd even be happy to see an Ending Murphy hitting stores these days.

Comments

[Michael Hemmingson]

Thanks for the recommend, Dan...I ordered both books, sounds like the kind of writer I'd like...I am always curious about writers who publish quietly, but write gems, in the univ and small presses...would you say Costello is in the Carver vein?

[Andrew Porter]

Dan,

I was thrilled to see this post about Mark Costello. He's an incredible writer, and the Murphy collections are important books (though, sadly, too often overlooked.)

Thanks for bringing his work to people's attention, and, of course, for all of the amazing work you do here at EWN!

Cheers,
Andrew

[Chad]

I've been waiting for a third book of Murphy stories ever since I finished reading the first two for the first time--about twelve years ago. I used to have a small dream that some publisher would issue this third book as part of a "Collected Murphy" so that more readers might become aware of what a great talent Costello is.

Michael: I wouldn't necessarily say that Costello is in the Carver vein. Maybe somewhat in the stories' subject matter, but not on the sentence-level. Costello writes some of the most gymnastic and gorgeous-sounding sentences I've ever read.

[janet desaulniers]

This is the savviest rec I've seen you make in all these years, good mr. Wickett. Costello is the ranking American stylist, if you ask me. He's the original sentence writer, writing novels in miniature before anyone (except R.V. Cassill) ever imagined such a thing.
My only question is: If you're waiting on More Murphy...why don't you just dial the man up or pen him a note & ask what he's got?? Isn't that what folks the gods have blessed with presses oughta be doing for us pore readers??
Last time I ran into him he'd retired to some glassed-in apt above Iowa City and was writing through every night & then running himself to exhaustion w/ a basketball or some such. Which is to say, best call him at some swank hour, after noon, say.
We'll be waiting.
His fans & yours, too.

[Peter Markus]

Janet, you're a gem. I just read some just a paragraph of Costello's prose and am all lumpy in the throat.

[Steve Davenport]

Mark moved back to Champaign a couple of years ago. We had him read here at the University of Illinois from the Murphy novel he's been writing for some time. Write to him at 407 University Avenue, Apt. 301, Champaign, IL 61820-8805.

[CB]

I came across this site by mistake. I was once a student of Mark Costello. He and a few others at Illinois encouraged me to "keep writing" as I was neither a Rhetoric major nor even in the Liberal Arts and Sciences school did not matter to them. I did write, and I kept writing. I am extremely happy to hear that so many of you have read Mark's fiction. Like much of the truly best fiction and art in this nation, most of it goes unheard, unseen and unread. I owe Mark and Jean and Mike and Lawrence and Karen a great deal. Because of their persistance and great care I have a degree in letters from Illinois.

I have accumulated a few other degrees along my way but my most prized achievement was won with their quiet and unwavering effort.

Mark is a better writer than most will ever know and that more than Michael Murphy is a tragedy.

CB

[jorge]

Where is Mark Costello these days? Still at the U of I? Thanks!