I've read and thoroughly enjoyed Thomas Lynch's other three books of prose, all essay collections, so I'm not surprised at how very good the stories are in APPARITION & LATE FICTIONS. I am not a fisherman, but nonetheless I was quickly captured by the first selection, "Catch and Release," a moving story of fishing and fathers set on and around west Michigan's Pere Marquette river. It easily brought to mind Hemingway's Nick Adams stories, as well as another Michigan writer, Thomas McGuane, and his fine essay collection, THE LONGEST SILENCE: A LIFE IN FISHING. The story concerns a professional fishing guide left with the ashes of his father, a minister. I had to chuckle at the father's remembered offhand comment about what to do with his remains -

"Bury me or burn me or blow me out of a cannon - I don't care. I'll have my heaven. Its yours to do. That's one funeral I won't have to preach."

The second story, "Bloodsport," about a young undertaker tasked with going to retrieve the body of a young woman callously murdered by her husband, is enough to break your heart. "Hunter's Moon" gives us a casket salesman, comfortably retired on the shore of Lake Huron in northeast Michigan, reflecting back on divorce, his career and the women in his life. Then there is "Matinee de Septembre," a long-ish meditative piece on the literary life, featuring Aisling Black, an attractive, lonely, forty-ish writer-professor, and widow of a much older and famous poet. More reflection and introspection. Can a man write effectively about a feminist? Yeah, sort of. I mean, I had to chuckle - and mabye wince a bit - as Dr Black considered the first-class passengers on her trans-Atlantic flight - "balding men and their trophy wives," with their "Bigger seats for bigger asses ..." This was the one story that seemed a bit out of place in a collection heavy on ministers, undertakers, and other marginal players from "the dismal trade" - something Lynch, an undertaker himself, knows well.

The novella, APPARITION, returns to that venue, with its portrayal of Adrian Littlefield, a young Methodist minister in Findlay, Ohio, with a serially perfidious wife, who leaves him with two young children, effectively ruining his religious career. Initially he goes a little crazy, but he is saved by the affections of a generous woman, and by penning a bestselling book, "Good Riddance - Divorcing for Keeps." Adrian finds himself a much sought after inspirational speaker and becomes wealthier, if not happier. One of the best features of this story is Adrian's one true friend through all of it, Francis Assisi Concannon, a hard-drinking, cursing Catholic priest, who becomes a kind of confessor for Adrian, listening, sympathizing, and even taking him on a rollicking, pot-addled road trip to Windsor, Canada, where they enjoy the sights and sounds of a sleazy strip joint. I could not help but laugh out loud when Adrian confessed to Francis of a sex-soaked visitation from Mary DeDona (his children's babysitter and fourth grade teacher at the Catholic school). Francis, "smiling broadly," responded -

"The beatific vision! ... A 'pastoral' visit! ... God bless her. Now there's a woman with really priestly instincts."

Father Francis is perhaps one of the funniest fictional priests I've encountered since the Midwestern clergy of the late J.F. Powers. And, shifting gears just a bit, I would also add that the ministers, morticians and casket salesmen here also brought to mind another fine book I read not long ago, Robert Hellenga's THE TRUTH ABOUT DEATH AND OTHER STORIES, which features a family of undertakers struggling to cope with change.

This book? I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very highly recommended. Bravo, Mr Lynch. Maybe a novel soon?

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )

Ive heard a great deal of praise for the author's essays, but this collection of three short stories and a novella were the first Lynch book I was able to lay my hands on.
They're good. I didn't make it all the way through the novella before deciding to return the book (late!) the the library, but it was as gripping as the stories were. ( )

Gorgeous melancholic short stories and the novella "Apparition." (105) ( )

stories infused with an undertakers skill at reanimating the lost and the forgotten moments of everyday life. the grave hides behind the words and the trembling expectation of the near as breath final curtain blows in the written breeze of these words ( )

I really wanted to like this book but it didn't hold my attention. I blame myself for this more than the author, and I really do plan to give Apparition & Late Fictions another try sometime soon. I like Lynch's style and his approach to storytelling, although I'm not nearly as interested in fishing as he suggests I should be.