Caleb's Reviews > Bugsy & Other Stories

This short story collection unfortunately fell a little flat for me. I quite enjoy the general direction of where Frumkin's stories wanted to go, but I'm not convinced the execution was effective in each instance. I'm usually a huge fan of short stories, especially short pieces that bend the rules and conventions associated with short-form fiction, but the use of multiple perspectives in some of these stories felt excessive and muddied the message. I think the overarching theme for these stories could be " it's good, but it'd be better if it was shorter." Tightening up the writing would have provided an extra star for my review. I do want to say that I appreciate the embracing of taboo topics and pushing boundaries. It is refreshing to see the viscera of the writing process sometimes.

I've read the author's other work, and I'm a fan of what they can do in novel-length narratives, but short stories are a whole other beast to tame.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Rafael Frumkin, and Simon and Schuster for providing me with the digital arc for this review. I'll be sure to check out more of Frumkin's work in the future.