TICKET TO MINTO: Stories of India and America

At its best, this ambitious winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award is a reminder of how satisfying the short story form can be: not all writers need 200-plus pages in which to demonstrate sophistication, subtlety and complexity. Fracis's 12 short stories reflect a wide range of influences—from the somber realism of Somerset Maugham to the hip, colloquial humor of Junot Diaz. In the semitragic "Ancient Fire," a boy who has been mentally and physically depleted by a recent bout with typhoid unleashes his inner demons during a scout troop excursion and confronts the bullies who have been tormenting him. In "Rabbit's Foot," an Indian boy abandons his vegetarian roots and kills a rabbit, then presses his slacker friend for instructions on how to skin and cook it. "Who's Your Authority" tracks an Indian man, his American wife and their child during a car ride home after a brief exchange with a Hare Krishna at an airport. The encounter becomes a source of tension for the couple, raising doubts about what kind of religious upbringing their daughter should have, if any. The characters in several stories overlap, heightening the collection's depth and cohesiveness. With few exceptions, such as the self-indulgent "The Mark Twain Overlook," which is more an essay on "How I Became a Writer" than a work of fiction, readers will recognize these stories as the work of an impressive new talent. (Oct.)