This collection is full of humor and vitality. First Person Imperfect, an anthology by ten Chicago-area writers, introduces readers
to 19 diverse narrators while exploring themes of love, loss,
and identity. The stories range immensely, from a woman's quest
to find the perfect (or less than perfect) apartment to a boy
pondering his sister's suicide to a woman finding a stranger's
identity a better fit than her own...Editor Paul McComas' engaging
"I Was A Teenage Disco Prince" follows an inexperienced adolescent
caught up in the vanishing mystique of the dying days of disco.
The main character never takees himself too seriously; rather,
the disco prince progressively endears himself to the reader as
he tries to define himself in this unforgettable era. In "Out
of the Lobster Tank," Sarah Morrill Condry charms us with her
depiction of Pete, a young man working "a piss-ant little job
at the Lobster Shack" whose tough and often crude demeanor is
offset by his stinging heartbreak. The story skillfully illustrates
the differences between the things we want, the things we have
and the things we do not think we deserve. Emile Ferris' "My Favorite
Thing Is Monsters by Karen Reyes" is another tale that stands
out. The young narrator's engaging voice, the reverence she demonstrates
for her Vietnam veteran brother, and her commiseration with the
lonely monsters of old movies makes her easy to enjoy getting
to know...The tales these writers present are true enough, and
the characters are imperfect in ways that define them as most
fallibly human. [These] short stories make the ordinary extraordinary. Best are
Sarah Morrill Condry's "Out of the Lobster Tank," Laura Allan-Simpson's
"How to Worry About Your Father," Elizabeth Samet's "My Mother
Never Understood My Hair" and "The Details," Drew Downing's "Moms
Don't Eat Their Babies," and the extremely excellent "The Sycamore
Tree" by Lisa Beth Janis. How does one express one's love for
a father? Allen-Simpson's story involves a simple phone call,
many distractions, and the intense effort it sometimes takes to
truly listen. How does a mother express love for a daughter? Samet
says it all with a hair-do or three. Condry's character works
at a Lobster Shack, Samet's character in "The Details" looks for
a New York City apartment, and Janis' spends his time climbing
trees. Yes, traumatic things happen, and the characters' lives
change. Yet what engages most are lines like "The owner [of the
apartment] is a paralegal who loves Celine Dion and owns DVDs
of The Little Mermaid and Sleepless in Seattle, and I adore her
anyway." These are odd, lively, often funny stories -- an overall
delight to read. “Paul McComas has taken a group of young writers with big hearts
and collected their stories in a big-hearted book. The poignancy,
humor and craft contained in First Person Imperfect make this anthology much closer to perfect than the title suggests.” “A varied and wonderful collection of new voices.” "This is a charming and diverse collection of original, emotional
stories sung with passion; many pulse with angst and aspiration.
The delightful ‘I Was a Teenage Disco Prince’ and ‘My Mother Never
Understood My Hair’ are but two of the many gems found between
these covers.” “There are fine moments within these pages. Very fine.” “I was hooked from the very first story. And I stayed hooked as
I met a variety of characters who were at once messy, violent,
sad and again playful, loving, vulnerable. Stories where everyone
wears their human-ness on their sleeve. Which is my favorite kind.
On the page, and in real life.” All contents ©1998, 2002-06 Paul McComas
School of the Art Institute of Chicago student monthly
Deconstruction Acres and Left of the Loop
Doctors' Stories
Never Fade Away
Going to Dolpo
Looking for A Soft Place to Land
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