A Perfect Universe: Ten Stories

Ordinary Californians struggle to find meaning and connection in this malaise-filled story cycle from O’Connor (Half World). Whether struggling to get on The Price is Right (“Golden State”), worrying about some postbreakup weight gain (“Jane’s Wife”), or just trying to get some morning coffee (“It Was Over So Quickly, Doug”), all of the characters are united by a grasping need for connection in a world dominated by material excess and consumerism. A troubled boy navigates a rocky relationship with a choleric father and struggles to make friends in “Soldiers.” In “Colnago Super,” a bike thief finds herself unexpectedly attached to the child she babysits, only to be left reeling when he disappears. Each fast-moving story presents a vivid sense of a California beyond the bright lights of Hollywood. The highlight of the collection, “Interstellar Space,” is a deeply touching tale about a young woman who visits her sister in a psychiatric hospital, struggling to connect with her as she did when they were children. However, in the other stories, while the characters are fully formed and recognizable, endings tend to come abruptly and without purpose. Fans of Jennifer Egan will enjoy O’Connor’s depiction of angst and ennui in capitalist California. (Feb.)