The Cucumber King of Kédainiai

Mayo (In Lithuanian Wood) returns to a Lithuanian setting for his latest—a brief, surreal collection of six tales. Though not linked, these stories have parallels not only in their use of adrift Americans as catalysts for narrative adventure, but also in minor repetitions. Characters named Asta appear in two different stories, for example, and the sum of $40 comes into play twice, as well: first, that amount is offered for a paint-by-numbers portrait of Brezhnev in “Brezhnev’s Beard,” and then the same amount is settled upon as the daily rent between a secretive American and his local host in “Gōda.” This latter finds a clever hook: the eponymous host is tracked down by the KGB, and the story is told through her responses during an interrogation, but the interrogation questions aren’t revealed to the reader. This format reflects the curious relationship within the narrative: two characters in the same apartment who never meet face-to-face. Roommates of a different ilk inhabit “Spider Story,” in which a schoolteacher living in a sanitarium finds himself bonding with two spiders residing in his bathroom. As the arachnids torture each other, the teacher, an American, wonders if he belongs so far away from home; this question of place and connection lingers throughout the collection. (Dec.)