An Orchard in the Street

Gibbons’s excellent collection is composed of 35 brief, meditative stories. In “Change the Goddamn Thing,” an author considers a finished draft of his manuscript: all it represents and the way in which his work binds him. “Dying with Words” portrays a family constrained by a mother’s illness, the concept of gender, and language. The majority of the stories do not reference any particular city, state, or country, and there are several unnamed narrators and characters. Gibbons’s omissions lend a sense of universality, inviting a wider audience to connect with the stories. “A Man in a Suit” is a standout story told in the form of a letter from a night security guard reporting the appearance of a shape-shifting “greenish blue raft of ectoplasm.” “What Happened” recounts the dramas of a small community when Sally leaves to help tend to her two elderly grandfathers in another town; the text appears in two large uninterrupted blocks, mirroring the way a person might blather ceaselessly while gossiping. Gibbons’s precise, inventive ruminations on the human experience inspire repeated readings and new interpretations with each look. Despite the brevity of the stories, this collection demonstrates great depth and scope. (Oct.)