I am a huge fan of the short story - a literary form which seems to have been largely demoted to appearing in magazines and journals (of various reputations), from which the crème de la crème is then selected and anthologized in volumes hardly anyone reads. An author who wants to publish a collection of his short fiction is often seen as someone pointing a loaded gun at his foot and attempting to pull the trigger; writers who deal exclusively in short fiction seem to be in incredibly short supply. The truth is that short story collections are nowhere near as marketable as novels - and while they can be critical darlings, commerical success is almost always a domain of the novel - though there are notable exceptions, such as Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain which got adapted into the Oscar-winning film.I discovered Robert Olen Butler by accident, when I found out about his collection of stories titled A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain - which I read and enjoyed enormously and gave full five stars. These stories, exploring the lives of Vietnamese refugees in Louisiana, gave voice to an important minority group which did not yet have its own herald - and were a showcase of riveting storytelling, with a convincing narrative tone and deep respect for the people they described. These stories, with their sense of nostalgia and longing, were full of humanity - and rightfully won the Pulitzer Prize.In his second collection Butler takes a drastically different approach - the stories in Tabloid Dreams are inspired by the outlandish headlines one will occasionally glimpse in the yellow press. These tabloids are often stacked at the checkout lines in supermarkets, where millions of shoppers see these headlines all but screaming at them. Here are some real examples: "Abraham Lincoln was a woman!" "Hilary Clinton adopts alien baby", "Alien Bible found! (they worship Oprah!)", "Headless body in a topless bar", "Satan Captured by GIs in Iraq".The main problem with such articles (apart from the fact that they're a load of bull) is the fact that the punchline is revealed immediately, before the prospective buyer even reaches for the paper: the writers of these articles create the punchline in advance, and then mold the actual story to suit the outcome. The tabloid headline has to schock with schlock; the headline is the memorable part, while the actual article is as forgettable as the latest hit from the current pop star. Butler honors the tabloid approach by creating wild and outlandish premises from the - and does them justice. Aliens and unfaithful spouses, violent juveniles and approaching asteroids, Elvis and other famous dead figures - all common tabloid material, and all serve as the basis for these bizarre, surreal stories.In opposition to the tabloid - where the focus always lies on the controversy - Butler focuses his stories on their protagonists. By employing the first person narration - as he did in A Good Scent - he gives each of them an unique voice, and a stage to let them present their troubles: in Titanic Victim Speaks Through Waterbed a ghost of a mannered English servant is trapped in a waterbed and remembers the woman he fell in love that night, and saved by putting her on a lifeboat; his memories are interrupted by a couple which attempts to use the bed for another kind of love. In Help Me Find My Spaceman Lover Edna Bradshaw falls in love with Desi, a man who claims to be from space, and is forced to make a choice: either stay with her dysfunctional family in the South or elope - into space! This is a surprisingly poignant story. The whole collection - as outlandish as it sounds - is perpetuated by a sense of sadness, and the people in it not happy. Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot is the story of a reincarnated husband, who is unable to communicate with his wife - to his distress, as she does not recognize him in a body of a parrot. Think of it as The Metamorphosis of the late 20th century."Every Man She Kisses Dies" is as preposterous as it is sad - the woman of the story is unable to form any relationship with anyone, as sooner or later she will kiss and make the other person die. She is angry and frustrated, as she does not understand why this is so, and lonely, and afraid. To create such a character in such a small frame of time and space is mastery, and Butler proves his talent in spades.But there is more still, more stories of detached characters, who are absurd, sad, moving and memorable. In Nine-Year-Old Boy Is World's Youngest Hit Man a nine year old is a professional assasin, who works with surprisingly good results (after all, who would suspect a nine year old of being a murderer?). Each time he takes on a new job he imagines that it is his father that he is killing. He is cold, ruthless, and effective - yet cares for his mother, and deep down longs to be with his father as well. The story is based on a real headline from Weekly World News, which described the story of Luca Contalia, an Italian child "who has killed at least 11 men and earned millions of dollars while frustrating police all over the world - at the tender age of 9!". The article discloses that authorities have linked young Luca to five murders in Italy, three in France, and one in Switzerland. When asked for an opinion on Luca, a mob insider "confided that Luca is highly regarded among gangsters. "This kid, he is the best" - the gangster said".JFK Secretly Attends Jackie Auction is indebted to the endless tabloid conspiracies, as it is about the still-living president who is hiding from the public eye, but chooses to secretly attend the auction of his late wife's possessions. He remembers her in the materialistic way of the tabloids - through necklaces she wore, handbags, decorations, pottery...he gazes at these things until he spots her in the crowd - several times.The collection ends where it begins - again with the Titanic, in Titanic Survivors Found in Bermuda Triangle, a surreal entry narrated by the lost love of the waterbed ghost. It is perhaps the only entry which is hopeful, even positive, despite being very dark: the woman is depressed and keeps remembering that fateful night, going back to the moment of the ship's sinking. She remembers her life - how she has devoted herself to causes of progress, and feels that shedoes ot hav abything left to fight for. Her grief is consoled only by the memories of the man who has saved her life all these years ago. It is really a beautiful story, and a powerful closure to the volume.This is a vastly diffferent collection than A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, and it is my pleasure to say that it has the same quality that its predecessor. If faced with a choice I think I would say that A Good Scent is a stronger collection, but Tabloid Dreams comes at a close second - these stories could so easily have turned into hopeless comedies, or mean-spirited parodies of contemporary America, which is exactly what the tabloids are. Despite their absurdity and surreality, I found these stories to be emotionally engaging and quite touching - full of creative imagination, with clear empathy and consideration for their subjects. In their tabloid realities they come alive with their dreams, hopes and desires, walking on the thin rope which separates the human from the absurd, and never slipping. Tabloid Dreams was a very rewarding reading experience, and like his previous collection is a work to which I will happily return to in the future.
Butler posed himself an intriguing challenge: select several outrageous and/or preposterous headlines from the pages of trashy supermarket tabloids, and write short narratives that tell how people came to find themselves in those situations. I particularly remember the poignant tale of "Woman Loses Cookie Bake-Off, Sets Self on Fire." You might expect lurid hilarity, but instead, Butler seems to have striven to capture the full humanity of each of his protagonists. An oddly moving collection -- I've never come across anything else quite like it.
What do You think about Tabloid Dreams: Stories (1997)?
Robert Olen Butler took headlines from tabloids, the kind we all see in the check-out lane at the grocery store, and fashioned his own stories from them. He combined comedy, farce, satire, insight, and poignancy in stories which are marvels of clever imagination. He explored the lunacy, pathos, yearning, despair, and hope in what it means to be human in this deeply ambiguous existence. I commend this collection of stories to anyone interested in off-beat stories which nevertheless touch upon some core issues of being human.
—Gregory Strong
this guy is a vietnam vet which is why i've read his books. i mean, he's active in the veterans community that my parents' best friend marc leepson, who is an author and vietnam vet, is also a part of. marc is really cool but writes what i assue is pedestrian non-fiction, although i really shouldn't say that, since i've never read it. he and his wife live on an awesome estate in middleburg, va. it is wooded, and there are deer. suffice to say, it is a mansion. growing up with parents who were best friends with people who owned a mansion, was really great. anyway their kids are nice too. BUT my point is. robert olen butler, wrote this book, tabloid dreams, lent a copy to marc and janna, and they lent it to my family. it has been in my house for like 10 years. i was reminded of how much i would recommend this author today when i was reading mcsweeneyss for free in the financial district borders at lunch. he wrote an awesome thing about beheading that is two pages long in the "war" issue. tabloid dreams is based on tabloids headlines. he also wrote a book online once, papatya bucak mentioned in fiction class. so people could see. not sure which book. he also won the pulitzer. WTG ROB
—rebecca
When first sitting down to read this collection of short stories, I wasn't all that impressed. Each chapter was drawn from the pages of a... well... tabloid, with titles like 'Boy Born with Tattoo of Elvis' or 'Jealous Husband Returns in the Form of Parrot'. And, while not all of the stories caught my attention, I found myself drawn to the rough humanity of the characters in others. From the heartbreak in 'Woman Uses Glass Eye to Spy on Philandering Husband' to the hopefulness in 'Every Man She Kisses Dies', Butler gives us a glimpse into the true feelings underlying the humor and quirkiness of each bizarre situation.
—Tony J
