By the Time You Read This: Stories

Murphy’s canny collection (after This Is the Water) serves up an intriguing and illuminating mix of character studies. In “The Good Word,” two American women on vacation abroad meet a German man who invites them to a remote seaside town where they all stay with an old man who competes with his son for attention from the narrator’s attractive traveling companion. The unflappable narrator of “Oyster City” receives calls for her celebrity author boss by men claiming to be Deep Throat, and takes to answering as “Little Bo Fucking Peep or Little Red Fucking Riding Hood.” Gradually, the understated matter-of-fact tone swells into something more emotionally affecting, as the story becomes about longing for a better life. The title story consists of a suicide note addressed alternately to several recipients, including the writer’s husband and 12-year-old daughter: “Dear Paul, by the time you read this, I will be dead; “Dear Cleo, I did this because I love you.” Gradually, the note’s author reveals her sorrows and regrets, imagining different ways she might end her life and the possible effects that would have on her family members and others. As always, Murphy’s cool, minimalist style is undeniably appealing. (Aug.)