This book of short stories consists of fictionalized expansions of quick tales told to a Uber driver over the course of his journeys. I have been doing some editing in the genre lately, and I was interested to see how this author would handle it. I’m glad I took it on.
“True Fiction” can be difficult to handle because it switches back and forth from the objective to the more personal, which can disorient the reader. Not in the case of “Intersections.” Our attention zooms in smoothly from the observer’s point of view to the feelings of the characters, and draws us along powerfully.
The first story, “The Jumper,” is a moving chronicle of the buildup to a suicide, with an appropriate ending. It really puts us in the heads of the connected people, to understand and sympathize with each.
“Secrets” is a doozy. It is such a heavy-duty soap opera you can’t believe one family could have such a plethora of events hit them at the same time. However, at the end the author takes us back into his rideshare car, to remind us that truth is stranger than fiction.
The stories vary in interest and quality, but all are entertaining, and some are wonderful. Perhaps it’s a bit of a spoiler to tell you that most have sort-of-happy endings. Many are of the “we did the best we could” sort, which shows a reasonable attitude towards life, in my opinion.
This is great storytelling that really draws us in. However, at times there is too much extraneous detail, especially in the end of “Secrets,” where the father figure is lying in the hospital bed trying to make sense of his life, and we have to hear all of it, including applicable bible stories.
And “The Last Supper” is a super final story. I was warned about it, but when it happened, I didn’t expect it, yet I had to accept it. A great ending to an entertaining and thoughtful book.
(5 / 5)