The Day Immanuel Kant Was Late - Book 46

I haven't read a collection of short stories in a long time.  I think the last two collections in the past few years have been an anthology of Father Brown mysteries and Agatha Christie short stories on audio.  I forgot how compact and economical a good short story has to be.  It has to create a relatable world right away.  These stories by J. Mulrooney blew me away, basically.  In The Day Immanuel Kant Was Late; Philosophical Fables, Pious Tales, and Other Stories, the author creates vivid immersive worlds, by turns absurd, funny, provocative, grotesque, ironic, wise, gentle and startling, and maybe all that within the same story!

It is hard to review this book because there are so many stories of so many different styles. Every single one of them is memorable in its own way.  There isn't one clunker among the bunch!  I never knew what direction one would go in and I was amazed at the deftness of Mulrooney's writing.  Some of the stories are fanciful in a disturbing way, but the lovely thing was that they never left me despairing.  I avoid much of modern writing because I can not stand the existential hopelessness and tawdriness that is so oppressively alway lurking there.  Here, the stories were both told gracefully (even when talking about shocking things) and had a sense of grace about them.

Two different stories both had the theme of  young, privileged men who use others, especially sexually and haven't got a clue about anything deeper.  They go around hurting and causing pain and yet are successful in a worldly way.  In fact many of the stories are about sin and how much damage it does.  One of the most gripping stories, which I thought was just brilliant, was The Devil's Confession. It's a stand off between a good but very human priest and the devil.  Another story recounts how two people lose the person they have come to solely rely on in a mysterious and incomprehensible way and how each one copes.  In another, a manipulative reporter manages to do the right thing by a child kidnapped in a custody battle, but only because she still has some very dim memory of what decency is and because her cameraman chances to point it out so bluntly.  And the one entitled Michael's Pillow - Oh my God!  That one cuts deep. And that's only a small sampling.

I could write an in depth analysis of each story.  There is much here to explore.  I was amazed by and appreciated each tale.  They are worthy of many rereads.

Dappled Things did a review of this book and an interview with the author.

I highly recommend The Day Immanuel Kant Was Late by J. Mulrooney.  I plan to pass this on to my 22 year old son, who I know will love them.  This book is an early Christmas gift.

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