Facing the Music, a collection of short stories by Mississippi native Larry Brown, is a cutting-edge interpretation of modern day relationships .
Brown, who died in late 2004, infuses every character and thought with a melodic time-elapsing droll -- a tradition of Southern authors since the days of Faulkner. Like Faulkner, Brown also shares a certain affinity for a bare portrayal of violence and alcoholism.
In many ways, Facing the Music deals with the conflicting attitudes of men and women towards relationships. However, Brown does not ascribe to any particular stereotypes concerning either gender. Thereby, he creates several well-developed, highly flawed characters that simultaneously seem both reprehensible and very human, often relatable and sometimes even likable.
That is not to say that Brown's portrayal of relationship woes is by any means sympathetic. On the contrary, each narrative possesses a defined quality that forces the reader to become a voyeur into the lives of his Southern working class characters. All ten stories, while distinctly effective on their own, work together in this collection to give a broader sense of how people relate to one another in terms of love, hate, sex, lies, booze and, of course, guns. Brown further connects his stories by giving each of his male protagonists a similar voice.
At the end of the day, it is Brown's mastery of language and clever ability to weave stories together that bring this work to life even on the most uncommon of grounds. Facing the Music is one of those books that can be read out of order, picked up at any time or taken up all in one sitting. This one's a keeper, a must-have on the bookshelves.
