Short Stories – Male of the Species

This post is part of a year-long series about short stories.  Read about my “Year of the Short Story” HERE.

Male of the Species by Alex Mindt (2007) – This book was recommended to me by my daughter, who is a wonderful writer and has a wide range of reading.  I will admit to kind of dragging my feet on this one. If all the recommendations were as good as this one I’d break this habit in a minute.

Alex Mindt is a gifted writer working in what many people believe is the hardest writing category there is – the short story.  This collection focuses on relationships with our fathers.  In eleven stories he takes to an astounding cross-section of humanity.    They criss cross our nation and our experience of family.

As I prepared to write this I thought about which was my favorite, which spoke to me most deeply.  As I reviewed the stories I realized I couldn’t choose any one, or even a couple.  Each story is a jewel, infinite in wonder.  For the purposes of the review, I have picked out several that stayed with me the longest.  But you could include any story on that list.

These characters have richness and depth.  The stories are simple but filled with complex emotion.  This is a book that you can read again and again and again.

• 
  • Sabor a Mí
  • Reception
  • Ruby
  • An Artist at Work
  • Male of the Species
  • King of America
  • Stories of the Hunt
  • Free Spirits
  • The Gypsy
  • Immigration
  • Karrooo

My favorites here are:

• King of America – Vietnamese immigrants trying to find their vision of the American Dream
• Male of the Species – A small town teacher who is willing to do what he believes is right no matter what
•  An Artist at Work – The story of a son who is a complete puzzle to his father
• Karroo – A daughter trying to find her way back to a father with dementia

Don’t wait as long as I did to read this collection!