Charles D'Ambrosio - Dead Fish Museum

First published on 31 May 2010. Updated on 1 Jun 2010.

Charles D'Ambrosio has taken the range of human emotions, thrown them in a blender and poured onto the page a collection of stories that pulls and tugs in all the right places. Each tale is a mere snapshot, and D'Ambrosio lets you in only briefly, enough to get you interested, before sneaking away.

We're taken to suburban USA, where a widower desperately holds onto the past. In between selling typewriters and looking after his mentally ill son, he's forgotten about his own life. D'Ambrosio shows how a lifetime of love can be undone in a weekend of honesty, as a husband and wife learn more about each other, and hate what they discover. We meet a depressed screenwriter, stuck in a mental institution, whose only light in life is a ballerina, addicted to burning herself. Next, a couple so desperate to feed their addiction; they'll steal from anyone, until eventually their guilt catches up with them.

The Dead Fish Museum is all about finding the diamond in the rough. While the tales unveil the darker side of human nature, there are little gems D'Ambrosio leaves to remind us that all is not lost. While some feel forced, particularly a story of divorce, which is overblown and dramatic, for the most part The Dead Fish Museum is well written. Zeroing in on the struggle of individuals, faced with the choice of running or staying to fight is no easy task, but here it is done with ease.

While D'Ambrosio's last collection of short stories, The Point, was released in 1995, it's clear that time hasn't affected his ability to capture a moment. While his characters search for answers, you'll find yourself searching for pages, not wanting The Dead Fish Museum to end. Thomas Mitchell