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Slight Details & Random Events
A collection of short stories from one of today's most talented and challenging new writers. Eric Arvin covers everything from college love to mystical river sprites, from deep tragedy to bawdy sex comedy, in this collection that takes the everyday and finds the adventure within. It's a read sure to keep you guessing. Cover art and illustrations by HvH http://hvhexpo.blogspot.com
226 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 2, 2012
This book is brilliant, not a single misstep in the entire anthology. There's generous dose of humor with a dash of spiritual enlightenment. Arvin again manages to blow me away with his mastery of language and the magnificent turns of phrase that make this book one of the best I've ever read. Arvin has a true talent for creating unique and wholly lovable characters. This is one collection that you don't want to miss. I gulped it down in one day and I know it's a book that I will reread many times.
August 9, 2011
An interesting collection with poetry, romance, comedy, spirituality and tragedy. The bulk of the stories relate different episodes in Cat and Gael's life, as we follow them from college into careers. Many of the themes in this main romance are repeated throughout the collection, and I view the rest of the entries as extensions of the Cat and Gael storyline. In effect, I see them as Gael's writing: working out his joys and pains, and experimenting with his experiences. I prefer that way of viewing it, since otherwise I think I was starting to tire of having the themes revisited so frequently. Did enjoy the Cat and Gael series - each story had its own tone and discovery, making it really easy to get sucked in.
Liked the changes in style: the mythological, first person, omniscient, poetry. Though, at times, I found the shifts jarring within stories. Really enjoyed the seemingly easy painting of atmosphere in many of the stories - a hot summer's day, the spontaneity of travelling abroad, a valley with sprites.
The last four stories were a welcome comic relief from the heaviness of the earlier portions. The 3 stories about oblivious, gorgeous Gordy working out at the gym, particularly, had me in hysterics. Other standouts were "Camera Phone" for its simple creepiness and "Honeysuckle Sycamore" for a lovely fairytale romance.
Liked the changes in style: the mythological, first person, omniscient, poetry. Though, at times, I found the shifts jarring within stories. Really enjoyed the seemingly easy painting of atmosphere in many of the stories - a hot summer's day, the spontaneity of travelling abroad, a valley with sprites.
The last four stories were a welcome comic relief from the heaviness of the earlier portions. The 3 stories about oblivious, gorgeous Gordy working out at the gym, particularly, had me in hysterics. Other standouts were "Camera Phone" for its simple creepiness and "Honeysuckle Sycamore" for a lovely fairytale romance.
September 6, 2010
I have no idea why, but I went into reading this one thinking that I wasn't going to like it. (Maybe the synopsis didn't appeal to me?) I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was wrong.
The stories were short but very poignant, and reading the scene that became the story around SubSurdity: Vignettes from Jasper Lane and its sequel, Suburbilicious: Vignettes from Jasper Lane, made me want to read those as well. I actually like Eric Arvin's style of writing very much, particularly his comedies, but also his more dramatic stories as well.
The stories were short but very poignant, and reading the scene that became the story around SubSurdity: Vignettes from Jasper Lane and its sequel, Suburbilicious: Vignettes from Jasper Lane, made me want to read those as well. I actually like Eric Arvin's style of writing very much, particularly his comedies, but also his more dramatic stories as well.
Read
April 21, 2009Maybe I'm late, but I discover a new author, for me at least, that I for sure will add to my must-read author. Eric Arvin. Slight Details & Random Events is a collection of short stories, but, even if usually I'm not very fond of anthology of short stories, this time I like it very much cause most of the stories are intertwined and so we have the chance to read almost a full novel inside the anthology.
Prometheus: this is a fairy tale, very short. A man finds a very handsome and sculptured man chained to a tree in a forest. At first he wants to free the other man from the chains but then he is bewitched and he spends all the night making love to the chained man. And probably he will not free the man the morning after, cause it cannot free his hidden desires..
Tater ‘n Purgatory: this is a very sad story about a man who is mourning the death of his suicidal lover. Tate lives alone in the forest and his only companionship his a wild dog he calls Purgatory. But what it's apparently a story of loneliness, it will became almost an horror when Tate's grief will push him to a desperate act.
Camera Phone: a short story about a man who, during a strip tease, caughts with his camera phone, not the beatiful strippers but... a ghost!
Dismagic Planet: a very sad tale, maybe too much sad... a young boy accidentally kills his baby brother during a game. The accident will ignite a fall to hell for him and for his mother.
The Painting, The Things We Want, Italian for Beginners, Electronic Love, Australia, The Art of Balance, An Ordinary Evening, An Ordinary Couple, A Massacre of Lions, As Told by Lamarr Robert Irving, A Hat on the Bed & A Jog in the Rain are all stories about Gael and Cat, pictures of their life together, from the first time they meet at college since Cal's departure for the Army. In the mid they will pass from the discovery of love amid their friendship, to sharing the first travel abroad, to living apart when Gael will go abroad to study, to supporting each other during Gael's fight against cancer, to the death of Cat's mother. All this will test their love and their chance to be together forever.
Late Bloomer in the Water: a short story about a man who learn how to swim when he will learn how to love another man...
Butterfly Tattoo: the passionate love of a man who is enthralled by the butterfly tattoo of his lover.
Books by Covers: this one is a short story but a very interesting plot; a man is jogging and while jogging he is thinking to his life and his lover. And meanwhile he jogs, all the people who see him have difference reactions to his sight: from admiration for his body, to lust, to passion, to love, to revelation!
The Ice Tree: another sad story about a young man who has to face his father's death without being prepared.
Raspberry Boy: two lovers fight the illness of one of the two. But the thought that he is not alone, and that he can rely to another one, will help. And also to have a different perspective toward life.
Honeysuckle Sycamore: a fairy tyle about sprites and monsters and a love which last forever.
Absurdity on Jasper Lane: this one is almost a pic on another book by Eric Arvin, SubSurdity, that I have bought soon after reading this one. Rick is an handsome gay guy who seems to be not able to find true love. David and Terrence are his loudy and very queer neighboors. And James is the new guy on the block, beautiful guy just out of the army who jogs every day at the same hour. And one day he stops in front of Rick's house with a startling request: a date with Rick!
Gordy Helps Out, Gordy Squats Down Low & Gordy Takes a Shower are three stories, almost a comic sketch. Gordy is a new guy in the gym. He has a beautiful body, like a body builder, and he is also very sweet and friendly. But he is also not too bright. He doesn't realize that, everytime he is near a man, or woman, he ignites a passion which leads the man to an almost sudden climax. Even if the man is not gay!
Eric Arvin is a very original voice in the gay fiction. He has a fantasy that for me is almost unthinkable. And he is able to span from the total sadness to the most joyous tale (like in Gordy's series). And for a romance lover like me, he is also able to make me feel for his characters, like Cat and Gael, and to smile like an idiot (like in Absurdity on Jasper Lane).
Inside the book beautiful illustrations by HvH who is the artist also of the cover.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0980101808/?...
Prometheus: this is a fairy tale, very short. A man finds a very handsome and sculptured man chained to a tree in a forest. At first he wants to free the other man from the chains but then he is bewitched and he spends all the night making love to the chained man. And probably he will not free the man the morning after, cause it cannot free his hidden desires..
Tater ‘n Purgatory: this is a very sad story about a man who is mourning the death of his suicidal lover. Tate lives alone in the forest and his only companionship his a wild dog he calls Purgatory. But what it's apparently a story of loneliness, it will became almost an horror when Tate's grief will push him to a desperate act.
Camera Phone: a short story about a man who, during a strip tease, caughts with his camera phone, not the beatiful strippers but... a ghost!
Dismagic Planet: a very sad tale, maybe too much sad... a young boy accidentally kills his baby brother during a game. The accident will ignite a fall to hell for him and for his mother.
The Painting, The Things We Want, Italian for Beginners, Electronic Love, Australia, The Art of Balance, An Ordinary Evening, An Ordinary Couple, A Massacre of Lions, As Told by Lamarr Robert Irving, A Hat on the Bed & A Jog in the Rain are all stories about Gael and Cat, pictures of their life together, from the first time they meet at college since Cal's departure for the Army. In the mid they will pass from the discovery of love amid their friendship, to sharing the first travel abroad, to living apart when Gael will go abroad to study, to supporting each other during Gael's fight against cancer, to the death of Cat's mother. All this will test their love and their chance to be together forever.
Late Bloomer in the Water: a short story about a man who learn how to swim when he will learn how to love another man...
Butterfly Tattoo: the passionate love of a man who is enthralled by the butterfly tattoo of his lover.
Books by Covers: this one is a short story but a very interesting plot; a man is jogging and while jogging he is thinking to his life and his lover. And meanwhile he jogs, all the people who see him have difference reactions to his sight: from admiration for his body, to lust, to passion, to love, to revelation!
The Ice Tree: another sad story about a young man who has to face his father's death without being prepared.
Raspberry Boy: two lovers fight the illness of one of the two. But the thought that he is not alone, and that he can rely to another one, will help. And also to have a different perspective toward life.
Honeysuckle Sycamore: a fairy tyle about sprites and monsters and a love which last forever.
Absurdity on Jasper Lane: this one is almost a pic on another book by Eric Arvin, SubSurdity, that I have bought soon after reading this one. Rick is an handsome gay guy who seems to be not able to find true love. David and Terrence are his loudy and very queer neighboors. And James is the new guy on the block, beautiful guy just out of the army who jogs every day at the same hour. And one day he stops in front of Rick's house with a startling request: a date with Rick!
Gordy Helps Out, Gordy Squats Down Low & Gordy Takes a Shower are three stories, almost a comic sketch. Gordy is a new guy in the gym. He has a beautiful body, like a body builder, and he is also very sweet and friendly. But he is also not too bright. He doesn't realize that, everytime he is near a man, or woman, he ignites a passion which leads the man to an almost sudden climax. Even if the man is not gay!
Eric Arvin is a very original voice in the gay fiction. He has a fantasy that for me is almost unthinkable. And he is able to span from the total sadness to the most joyous tale (like in Gordy's series). And for a romance lover like me, he is also able to make me feel for his characters, like Cat and Gael, and to smile like an idiot (like in Absurdity on Jasper Lane).
Inside the book beautiful illustrations by HvH who is the artist also of the cover.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0980101808/?...
December 25, 2013
There is nothing quite like sinking into an Eric Arvin book. From the first page you are delighted by the amazing place that is the imagination of this man. Each story is filled with magic and love; some with familiar characters and some with new friends and yet each leaves you feeling happy and satisfied and desperate for more tales.
September 1, 2015
1st read - Jul 8, 2013
2nd read - Aug 28, 2015
2nd read - Aug 28, 2015
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews