Ether: Seven Stories and a Novella Book

Ether, the debut volume by Evgenia Citkowitz, consists of seven edgy short stories and an even edgier novella. These are stories peopled largely by characters who have given up on youthful dreams and ambitions, or who feel guilty for their own achievements. Either way, the feeling of being thwarted'by success or failure'seems in each case to lead to a neurosis or a struggle to forge a new identity. The book opens with "Happy Love." In this story Candayce takes her daughter Elizabeth to Europe for two months. The lengthy absence means having to board Elizabeth's pet hamster Peanut, who is taken in by Uma, Candayce's friend and yoga instructor. On their return, mother and daughter fetch Peanut from Uma, but the animal they retrieve looks and behaves nothing like the hamster they left behind. Uma's defensive and subtly hostile response to Candayce's questions finally doom the friendship, and Candayce is left with suspicions (but no evidence) that Uma is covering up some mishap by pawning off an imposter on her. In "The Bachelor's Table" a young lawyer impulsively purchases an expensive table at an antique shop for a price he knows is well below its actual market value, only to be tracked down later by the woman who sold it to him who admits her mistake and pleads with him to pay the difference or return it. Annoyed that he can't subdue his conscience he gives in and returns the table, but not before exacting a petty revenge. And in the title novella, "Ether," a severely blocked writer named William, seeking some sort of creative spark, moves from New York to Los Angeles. Here he falls in love with a young movie starlet, Madeline. Covering the span of their brief marriage, the novella utilizes a large cast of diverse characters to depict William and Madeline pursuing separate creative outlets that ultimately lead to the dissolution of their relationship. Citkowitz's narratives are heavily spiced with irony, and while her characters are certainly interesting, no one here is particularly admirable or likeable. Throughout the volume the writing is sharp and witty and filled with barbed observations about modern life in America. Mothers and daughters are in for a particularly rough time in these pages. Ether is an entertaining volume from a writer who apparently holds nothing sacred. Recommended.