the littlest hitler:stories by ryan boudinot
as if i couldn't have figured it out for myself, doing this book meme emphasized for me my affinity for short stories (and also the fact that many of the books that i love that aren't short story collections have introductions). and when i think in very vague terms about my own ambitions with regards to writing, it's short stories that i most imagine myself writing. so i admire those who can pen a good one. which isn't to say that i don't admire novelist. au contraire. but for whatever reason, short stories compel me, and ryan boudinot is a writer of them whom i am very glad to become familiar with. actually, the titular story of this collection, the littlest hitler i was already familiar with, having read it a few years ago in the best american non-required reading. i loved the story then and i still love it now.
boudinot reminds me a bit of aimee bender, who, not coincidentally blurbs this collection. i think because so many of the stories feature worlds and settings very much like our own, but with some small detail - like the fact that the door-to-door salesmen will murder your family if you don't listen to their spiel, or the fact that the woman you're intersted in comes to work with a bee beard and you happen to be allergic to them. that being said, those off-kilter details aren't present in every story and as such aren't necessary to make his stories "work." there isn't anything particularly strange about "the littlest hitler," except that most kids would probably not be smart enough to think of hitler being the scariest monster there is and most parents would probably not help said child craft such a halloween costume. and most kids would not happen to wear it on the same day that the popular girl dresses up as anne frank. nor is there much weirdness in "on sex and relationships," but there is a truth and a power in these two stories that almost knocks you out.
that being said, there are a few clinkers in the collections, stories that felt like throwaways i'd be happy to do without. but the cliches can be true, and overall, it's a slim but winning collection and i'll happily look forward to reading more from boudinot.
boudinot reminds me a bit of aimee bender, who, not coincidentally blurbs this collection. i think because so many of the stories feature worlds and settings very much like our own, but with some small detail - like the fact that the door-to-door salesmen will murder your family if you don't listen to their spiel, or the fact that the woman you're intersted in comes to work with a bee beard and you happen to be allergic to them. that being said, those off-kilter details aren't present in every story and as such aren't necessary to make his stories "work." there isn't anything particularly strange about "the littlest hitler," except that most kids would probably not be smart enough to think of hitler being the scariest monster there is and most parents would probably not help said child craft such a halloween costume. and most kids would not happen to wear it on the same day that the popular girl dresses up as anne frank. nor is there much weirdness in "on sex and relationships," but there is a truth and a power in these two stories that almost knocks you out.
that being said, there are a few clinkers in the collections, stories that felt like throwaways i'd be happy to do without. but the cliches can be true, and overall, it's a slim but winning collection and i'll happily look forward to reading more from boudinot.