Traveling has never been easier! Or cheaper! Just recently, Vanessa Blakeslee’s short story collection Perfect Conditions was published, and each piece is unafraid to grab you by the hand and drag you into its world. From dystopian societies to a water company ruining a couple’s honeymoon in Tahiti and the arrival of Jesus on Ecuadorian beaches, the best thing about this collection is not the vastness of the points of view it practices or its complex characters and their dramas, but the vastness of the globe it tackles.
Setting is vital in each of these stories. Blakeslee understands that place influences everything, and thus, her attention in crafting setting is not only impressive but fresh. In the title story Perfect Conditions, the ever-changing backdrop of the beach increases the tension of the story. When Jack’s son, Sebastian, shows up unannounced, the conflict of their relationship is paired with the changes in weather. Blakeslee’s acute attention to language and detail cues us into the unease and unpredictability of these characters’ dynamic. When the “waves thunder,” in Este Rios and the “deserted stretch of dunes gleam like those of a distant moon,” readers feel the distance between Jack and Sebastian growing.
While the location of each story is never the same, with situations ranging from being stuck on a boat, to setting traps in the shadows of mountains and forests, to following a talented surfer from Florida to Australia and back again, we are more than happy to travel with each of these characters. For as the stories continue, we begin to understand how location impacts their livelihood. In The Perfect Pantry, Martha’s paranoia over-takes her as she stocks her home with generators, guns, and freeze-dried beef stroganoff. But even in these confinements, past her own fear, she imagines taking her son to Thailand with the “sapphire water, sugar sand,” and “towering isles of limestone,” showing us that it is not just about where we are, but where we want to be.
As a whole, this collection covers a lot of ground. Literally. But it does so successfully. The backdrop of each story provides insight to our characters, increases tension, and brings readers on a journey that resonates with us long after we have closed the book.
Setting is vital in each of these stories. Blakeslee understands that place influences everything, and thus, her attention in crafting setting is not only impressive but fresh. In the title story Perfect Conditions, the ever-changing backdrop of the beach increases the tension of the story. When Jack’s son, Sebastian, shows up unannounced, the conflict of their relationship is paired with the changes in weather. Blakeslee’s acute attention to language and detail cues us into the unease and unpredictability of these characters’ dynamic. When the “waves thunder,” in Este Rios and the “deserted stretch of dunes gleam like those of a distant moon,” readers feel the distance between Jack and Sebastian growing.
While the location of each story is never the same, with situations ranging from being stuck on a boat, to setting traps in the shadows of mountains and forests, to following a talented surfer from Florida to Australia and back again, we are more than happy to travel with each of these characters. For as the stories continue, we begin to understand how location impacts their livelihood. In The Perfect Pantry, Martha’s paranoia over-takes her as she stocks her home with generators, guns, and freeze-dried beef stroganoff. But even in these confinements, past her own fear, she imagines taking her son to Thailand with the “sapphire water, sugar sand,” and “towering isles of limestone,” showing us that it is not just about where we are, but where we want to be.
As a whole, this collection covers a lot of ground. Literally. But it does so successfully. The backdrop of each story provides insight to our characters, increases tension, and brings readers on a journey that resonates with us long after we have closed the book.
