It turns out that “Follow Me” is quite the appropriate title for this book of short stories by Paul Griner. Not only is it the title of the first story and the request of the photographer in that story, but it also alludes to several stories within this book in which characters actually move from one story to another. In fact, it was those stories that I found to be among the book’s best.

One character, a construction worker named Bolen, made his way into three stories in a row. I found him the most intriguing character in this book and could see him heading straight for a novel. He’s kind of a down and out construction worker, a bit gritty, but believable in a way that makes reading about him interesting. Bolen was central to “Why Should I Wait”, my favorite story, in which he and nurses in a hospital cafeteria have a conflict about who should be allowed to eat there.

Some of the stories in this book focus on rather unusual objects. In “Nails”, a doctor remembers damaging one of his son’s fingernails and later goes on to specialize in medicine related to nails. In two related stories, “Clouds” and “Grass” two brothers focus individually on these items. In the first story, Eugene lies in a farmer’s field, studies clouds, and thinks about his dead wife and difficult relationship with his two daughters. In the second story, Eugene’s brother studies grass and becomes his Eugene’s caregiver as well as caretaker of his family’s gravestones.

In yet another story, a man struggles to make ends meet. He takes a job as a box loader for a shipping company, but is disliked by his co-workers for being too straight. An excellent story with an unexpected ending, “Boxes” had once been published in Playboy.

This is a pretty strong book of short stories with characters that are less than perfect. The stories have little twists, but basically all are psychological studies of individuals. With the exception of “If There Hadn’t Been a Monkey in the Car She Would Have Sung”, which I thought was downright silly (a woman decides to let a monkey run loose in a store for revenge), I found this book quick to read, well written, and very enjoyable. ( )