Based on my previous experience with Mr Antrim (The Verificationist), I expected The Emerald Light in the Air to be a collection of Donald Barthelme-style surrealistic stories. The first story, "An Actor Prepares," seemed to confirm that expectation: it was a disappointing comic romp about a college professor with outlandish ideas about how to stage a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
But then something surprising happened. The rest of the stories are fairly conventional accounts of couples struggling to maintain relationships in the face of their personal baggage. The characters are unpleasant people for the most part, but I found them strangely endearing. The stories were love stories along the lines of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
But then something surprising happened. The rest of the stories are fairly conventional accounts of couples struggling to maintain relationships in the face of their personal baggage. The characters are unpleasant people for the most part, but I found them strangely endearing. The stories were love stories along the lines of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
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