The Rise & Fall of the Scandamerican Domestic

Absurdity and surrealism rule in Merkner’s debut collection, which is set in a place where men fall in love with pigs, parents viscerally battle over the idea of violence, and townsfolk go to extremes to drive unwanted families from their neighborhoods. Sweden lingers in the background of the volume’s 17 stories, and often protagonists are fathers of young children. In “O Sweet One in the Bluff,” a man who finds it physically impossible to speak to his daughter travels with her to “the only mountain in Wisconsin,” while a hit-and-run in “Local Accident” sparks memories of other accidents—from the physical (hitting someone with an automobile) to the emotional (an unfortunate bout of trash talking between father and son that leads to an odd reconciliation in the bread aisle of a grocery store). Merkner’s narratives pulsate with confidence, mixing the weird (a five-year-old the size of a 15-year-old, a couple that paints an entire house one color) with moments of earnestness, and the result is a memorable book. Still, mixed within the collection are several microfictions that, while continuing to amp up the bizarre, fail to fully resonate. (Jan.)