cover image Remind Me to Murder You Later

Remind Me to Murder You Later

Jennifer Finney Boylan, James Boylan. Johns Hopkins University Press, $19.95 (144pp) ISBN 978-0-8018-3728-9

``Remind me to murder you later'' is an epithet muttered by none other than ``top Stooge'' Moe Howard, and he's but one of the many surprising characters in this collection of distinctive stories. In them, Boylan vividly displays his personaand we see all sides of it. In ``Aloe,'' Boylan is as biting as Woody Allen in his New Yorker pieces. In ``Final Exam,'' he's funny with a knowing wink. The ``Gissix Project'' evokes ``blacker'' humor, and ``The String'' is splendidly wistful. Strongest and, perhaps, best of all is ``Bride of Frankenstein,'' a story that portrays human sorrow with striking power. A few other renditions of this theme don't ring quite as clearly, but Boylan's imaginative stories truly represent writing ``at the limit.'' (Dec.)