A Review of The World Outside the Window
By LMReviews on Aug 14, 2010 in Multicultural Lit Reviews
The World Outside the Window is a short story anthology that explores the perception of the outside world from a window frame as told by 19 different onlookers. These onlookers are conjured up from the imagination of 19 Amazon.com Shorts writers. Many have other writing accomplishments to their credit but all have chosen to tell a story as perceived by someone looking out the window into a world from which they are distantly connected.
The same building from which this window resides takes the form of an asylum, a hotel, an apartment building and many other structural functions. The idea of these stories is interesting because we never know how our own biases color the interpretation of what we witness. While only a of few of the 19 stories are purposefully told from a different setting, all the stories do what short stories should. They get us into the story quickly and stir emotion good or bad about the main characters. Whether it is a multimillion dollar businessman under close watch due to his poor character judgment or poor black widow with two daughters and a farm to tend suddenly accepting the help of a young white man passing through town, the anthology displays the varied talents of each writer. Even tales of misery after the loss of a child and the demise of a marriage as told by Pamela Kinney in Misery Loves Company or the beauty of second chances and survival as told by Lana M. Ho-Shing in Etude and Smoke Rings which chronicles her experience in New York’s Wall Street on September 11th are shared in the compact short story format and don’t fail to satisfy.
While some stories like The Mailbox by Larry L. Evans and Twilight by Matthew Alan Pierce tells stories of war and family, others like Suspicious Activity by Curtis M. Hendel and House Arrest by Richard Lord, leave readers scratching their head unsure of what they just read. Then Neal’s Noel by Jay Osman, Fallen Star, Rising Star by Mark Terence Chapman and Only There Was No Wind by Jim Wilsky tell the story of strong bonds in boyhood friendships. None of the stories surprised me more than Anthony Waugh’s Smile, which shows the dark depths of obsession from the vantage point of the obsessed.
The World Outside the Window earns 4 out of 5 Sable Seals for the 19 interesting journeys it offers.
Publisher: R.J. Buckley Publishing
