Hugh Sheehy

It is driving me nuts that I can't remember how or where I heard about this book. I can't ask anyone either, because only 13 people on GR have rated it. That's why I'm thinking I must have seen it on a "criminally overlooked books of 2012" list or something. Seriously, only 13? How is that even possible?! At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, it is a fucking travesty that Hugh Sheehy's gem of a short story collection barely registered as a blip on our collective reading radar, while certain Shades of Shit continue to blow up the bestseller list. If I think about it for too long, I'm in danger of giving myself an aneurysm.

I feel like kind of a jerk only giving this 4 stars. When I thumbed back through the book to note which stories were my favorites, I realized that I had enjoyed every single one. There were a few times where I felt the ending of a story was a bit more abrupt than I would have liked, but even that was more of a fleeting afterthought. Mostly I was just enamored and completely enveloped in the lives of these "Invisibles". Maybe 4 stars is my way of saying READ THIS BOOK without completely over inflating your expectations.

Oh, and my (hard to pick) favorites:

Meat and Mouth
The Invisibles
Smiling Down at Ellie Pardo
Ghost Stories
Variations on a Theme





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