cover image Crow Time

Crow Time

Shelia Cudahy, Sheila Cudahy. Sun & Moon, $11.95 (208pp) ISBN 978-1-55713-202-4

Although poet and translator Cudahy (Nectar at Noon) tackles a wide range of styles in these short stories, she leaves too little unsaid and her themes are disappointingly tame. The shorter stories often read like prose poems. ``The River's Story'' is told in one descriptive paragraph, and, similarly, ``Clean Up'' depicts a sunrise in three sentences. In two brief pages, ``The Little Girls and Their Dolls'' details the relationship between girls and their dolls, and girls and real people. In the longer stories, which are more traditionally narrative, Cudahy's language flows smoothly and there are some satisfying entries; but, too often, they carry the weight of second acts that pound in their meaning. The young narrator of ``Christmas People'' feels a growing responsibility to produce holiday snow for her new next-door neighbors, a reclusive and religious family, then a death in the family hammers home how strange they are. Mikey, Frank, Rita and Gina are ``Best of Friends'' (and romantically paired) until Rita gets pregnant, an event that leads to bickering described in great detail and for too long. ``The Pack'' is a slightly tired reminiscence of the ways a clique of girls cruelly humiliates a classmate, which is further blunted by the subsequent revenge exacted years later. (July)