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Brighten to Incandescence
by Michael Bishop
(Golden Gryphon, $24.95, 295 pages, hardcover; 2003.)
Review by Stuart Jaffe
There are so many authors writing good work out there that it is near-impossible
to read every one. Until reading this collection of short stories,  I
had never once read anything by Michael Bishop. Well, that's the way
it goes. I've discovered there's a reason this man has been getting
his stories published since the late 1960s: he can write. Pretty obvious,
really...
Brighten to Incandescence is a collection of seventeen short
stories that mostly appeared in small press magazines (a few are from
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and one is original
to this collection). The tales leap from one end of the genre to the
other with seeming ease and impressive skill, so you never know quite
what you're in store for, but almost always you're satisfied.
Stories such as "Thirteen Lies about Hummingbirds" and "A Tapestry
of Little Murders" grab hold with fine storytelling and a clear, artistic
flair. Each is worthy of an award or two, and having both in one book
makes the hardcover price a good value. Add to this "Chihuahua
Flats", a love story surrounded by bizarre dog racing, and you've
just got a nice return on your investment.
By far the story that still resonates within me is, though, "Tithes
of Mint and Rue". Bishop follows an overweight woman as she escapes
her going-nowhere life and joins the circus. Here she meets an incredible
character billed as ten performers in one, and eventually takes over
as the fat lady. The sensitivity, humility, and ultimate understanding
of these two people, the wannabe and the consummate performer (it goes
much deeper than those terms imply), gives the story a purpose beyond
the mere ideas presented.
And that, in the end, is what makes this collection worthwhile. Because,
even though some of the stories fall apart (including a hit-you-over-the-head
9/11 piece), they do so by reaching for a higher standard. Yes, you'll
be treated to aliens and distant planets and ghosts and other fantastical
elements, but they exist in these stories with more purpose than just
to be gawked at. This is literature meeting genre in the best sense
of both words.
According to Bishop's endnotes, this is his seventh book of collected
stories without repeating a single work. That's impressive enough but,
if you add in the high quality of this seventh book, it is downright
stunning.
If you're already a fan of Bishop's, then dig in and enjoy. If, like
me, you're only just getting around to this well established author,
this is a pleasurable place to start that promises greater discoveries
down the road.
Elsewhere in infinity plus:
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