Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories
By: Kevin Wilson / Narrated By: George Newbern, Karen White, Michael Crouch, Jenna Lamia, Sophie Amoss, Allyson Ryan
Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
RiDICulously moving…
Having listened to Nothing to See Here, and having loved it, but seeing that some of author Kevin Wilson’s other novels were reviewed as being on the Unkind Spectrum, I was looking forward to p’raps some good Listens -but- shooooorter. Some short stories! There! THAT way? If they were flat, if they were outright cold and cruel? Dude, I could just get over it and move on to the next in the queue.
From the opener of “Grand Stand In”, I felt that I was in for some smiles as a woman of a Certain Age has joined an agency that provides grandparents as stand ins. She’s some juggling to do, some stories and backgrounds to commit to memory but >gasp<! She also has a few ethical questions confronting her and swirling in her mind. It was good, but then…
The second story deals with a pair of siblings who have to deal with the deaths of their parents by spontaneous combustion. Typical Kevin Wilson?
Yup, it is. But unforeseen? The pathos of it, the deep sadness, the study of the fragile human psyche and of human frailties would be par for his course as well. What would be glib in any other author’s hands is outrageously touching. Cuz spontaneous human combustion leaves scars on those left behind, who limp along, doing the best they can… until they can’t anymore.
I read one notable reviewer speak of this being Southern Gothic at its best, but I admit that I dunno what THAT is. Certainly the third tale, with Asian grandmama’s Will spelled out and a competition taking place, with four verrrrry Southern redneck brothers vying for what was once a grand estate, complete with howling and wrestling and sweating and cursing, and granddaughter being the judge, watching something breathtakingly lovely occurring even as all hell breaks loose, seeeems very Southern.
But then there are tales that are considerations of growing up and finding one’s voice. P’raps a young cheerleader finds a 12-year old outcast of a boy attractive and worth knowing. Gross? UnBEARably touching. A pair of teenaged boys, whiz kids of trivia but sooo on the fringes of Society, find a mutual and forbidden attraction, leaving lust and confusion, longing and loathing, a friendship to be made stronger… or broken irreparably? Young college graduates, at a loss with their Fits No Job on the Market degrees find comfort and joy in tunneling through the earth, a pair of parents bringing them food and tools, until they can’t. A woman content with the trash of other people’s lives finds beauty and order within her own. A man who sees the absolute worst… is challenged.
Sooooo beautifully beautifully written, I can’t tell you. Tho’ this collection is thoroughly and unUTTERably quirky first and foremost, woven through each story is such tenderness that sometimes rises to the forefront. Seriously, that second one with the siblings left to fend for themselves after the Freak Incident annihilated their parents? I had a quite serious lump forming in m’ danged throat by the end. The man who is exTRAvagantly pessimistic? He does something gorgeously pathos-laden at the end.
Told through stellar narration, I can’t fault a single narrator. Yeh yeh yeh, Karen White gets dinged PLENty of places for her tones, but when she has the wryness of Wilson’s story crafting as her canvas, she really can’t go wrong. Gathered for this compilation are voices for the young adults of the stories, the jaded men, the struggling kids, the clueless middle-aged women. Awesomeness all around.
Nope, looked at Wilson’s other offerings, and p’raps I should just settle with Nothing to See Here and this, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth. Cuz trust me: This one rang all m’ bells, and when a single tear finds its way from your eye, all whilst you’re smiling a crooked smile?
Then, dear Accomplice, you’ve found a home for your ears…
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