A Brief History of the Flood, By Jean Harfenist

Some of us have a love-hate relationship with the short story: We love it for the discipline and small miracle required to write a decent one, and for the simple, satisfying fact that we can read it in a single sitting. But we hate it for not pulling us in and keeping us there the way a good novel does, for whetting our appetite, as, say, the smell of microwave popcorn might, and then leaving us hungry for something else. Minnesota native Jean Harfenist has offered a compromise with her first book, A Brief History of the Flood. This collection of short stories builds chronologically from 1959 though 1970 on the life experiences of the same main character, Lillian Anderson of Acorn Lake, Minnesota. Lillian, whom we meet first as an 8-year-old, tells it like she sees it in a narrative voice that powerfully captures her chaotic, hard-edged family life, although she speaks from a safe distance rather than from the middle of the fray. As Lillian grows up, she continues to say it straight in this collection that is at once stark and hilarious. In the collection’s title story, Lillian’s mother pleads with the IRS by writing a multi-page tragi-comic letter: “I suffer allergies and high-grade headaches, as well as poor teeth. (Seems I’d be better off dead, but the children need me.) Also, Mr. Anderson needs frequent tranquillizing, and much Excedrin, all of which shows up on pharmacy bills scotch-taped to pages 9-36 of The Return.” Lillian at first points out the letter’s flaws, until her mother’s face goes blank like a “popped balloon,” and “one eye looks huge, like she’s had a concussion.” So Lillian backpedals with a compliment of her mother’s writing talent. “That’s a lie,” Lillian admits as an aside, “but the IRS won’t read past the first paragraph anyway.” We will, though.