Daddy: Stories
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Emma Cline is my kween. She is an icon, she is the moment. The Guest is one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year and The Girls is a permanent top-pick of mine. Since she’s 2/2 with her novels, I had high expectations for Daddy: Stories, her short story collection, especially because I’m a huge fan of short stories in general (shout out Tenth of December).
Perhaps I should have tempered those expectations. Each story started off strong. Emma Cline is an undeniable talent, capable of making the mundane mesmerizing. A guy could be twiddling his thumbs and I’d be locked in. But each story tapered off and didn’t stick the landing. I’m fine with stories that don’t have clear-cut resolutions; in fact, I really like that uncomfy feeling that we as readers are sometimes forced to face– the acknowledgement that we won’t ever get complete answers for these characters we’ve become invested in, but tough tits cause that’s the way of the world.
So, I’m down with an abstract ending, but I don’t think it works in this scenario. I didn’t like that every single story ended with an ellipses vibe. I still appreciate the morose, desperate, connection-seeking, loosely sexual tone that infuses her writing, but I would have liked some hope or direction for at least a few of the stories in this collection. Daddy: Stories receives 3 out of 5 flames.
