I am always jealous when (Canadian) people win prizes for short stories, especially prizes to which I *may* have submitted. Sigh. I can't even rightly be jealous because it isn't like the stories in <A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/20552720/book/160889709">Faithful</a> are bad. They are competent. Okay, they are more than competent. I can't say that any of them will suddenly become my favourite short story in the world (Shout out to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guests_of_the_Nation">Guests of the Nation</a>), and a few of the stories needed a bit more oomph (<i>An Old Friend</i> ends so quickly and not being a middle-aged, cheating man, I had trouble connecting with some of the motivations of Jake in the titular <i>Faithful</i>), but there's a story about someone who realizes they're never going to write a novel (<i>Witness</i>). I know that feeling (although I have written a <a href="https://www.dcbyoungreaders.com/enid-strange">novel</a>); I <b>know</b> that feeling like I know my own skin.

<A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/20552720/book/160889709">Faithful</a> are short stories that make me yearn to write short stories again.
Now if only I could come up with an idea (or maybe I'll steal some of Karasik's and make them my own; who knows).

<A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/20552720/book/160889709">Faithful</a> by Daniel Karasik went on sale October 1, 2017.

<small>I received a copy free from <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/">Netgalley</a> in exchange for an honest review.</small>