The Reverse Cowgirl

Keen, intense, and darkly comic, the short stories of David Whitton are full of misfits, oddballs, dropouts, klutzes, and loners. You might dress ’em up, but it’s just a matter of moments till they unravel back into their fallen, and fascinating, selves. Their mistakes and misdeeds, temptations and transgressions thread their way through these stories, stirring up surprises on every corner. Whitton navigates current life and future worlds, dirty truths and murky fantasies, continually setting up, if only to send up, modern romantic scenarios. In the end, if the boy does gets the girl, or vice versa—whether it’s online or on acid, at a wedding or in battle—the object of ardour might be in for a rough ride. Maybe they’ll stay afloat—tremulous and tentative—or maybe they’ll plunge to earth in delightful and refreshing ways.