Nothing Looks Familiar, by Shawn Syms
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Nothing Looks Familiar, by Shawn Syms
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In Nothing Looks Familiar, Shawn Syms' debut story collection, characters from a wide swath of society chart paths from places of danger or unhappiness into the great unknown, each grappling with a central and sometimes unanswerable question: if you fight to change your circumstances, could it be possible to reconfigure your very identity? From bullied kids to meth-smoking mothers, characters in dire straits take measures?sometimes drastic ones?to take charge of their own fates.
With a particular focus on the lives of the downtrodden and marginalized, Nothing Looks Familiar marries a vivid and distinct sense of place?the sights and smells of a meatpacking plant; a church-basement meeting hall full of sexual abusers?with universal themes such as the nature of friendship and relationships, and the configuration of the self. In this book, men and women alike struggle to cope, to survive, and to transform their surroundings; each of them is determined to come out the other side changed. In these richly drawn, deeply nuanced stories, nothing may look familiar, but everything is up for grabs.
Shawn Syms is an author and journalist who has written for fifty-plus publications over twenty-five years.
Nothing Looks Familiar, by Shawn Syms - Amazon Sales Rank: #2354777 in Books
- Brand: Syms, Shawn
- Published on: 2015-05-12
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.90" h x .50" w x 5.40" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 184 pages
Nothing Looks Familiar, by Shawn Syms Review "The bloodied covers are pulled back on the pulsing muscles of the world in Nothing Looks Familiar, Shawn Syms's tantalizingly kinetic debut collection of stories about catfishing tweeters and methy cheque-bouncers." —National Post
About the Author Shawn Syms is an author and journalist who has written on culture, politics and sexuality for more than fifty publications over the past twenty-five years, including The Globe and Mail, The National Post, the LGBT biweekly Xtra, and the acclaimed anthologies First Person Queer and Love, Christopher Street: Reflections of New York. An Honours graduate of the Creative Writing program at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies, he is also the editor of the anthology Friend. Follow. Text. #storiesFromLivingOnline.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. introduces us to sex-offenders and meth addicts and a grown man who dresses like a baby and sleeps in an adult-sized crib By Steve Karas In Shawn Syms’s bold debut story collection, Nothing Looks Familiar, there is, thankfully, very little I was already familiar with. Syms takes us into a slaughterhouse and a home for the aged, introduces us to sex-offenders and meth addicts and a grown man who dresses like a baby and sleeps in an adult-sized crib. These are the dark corners of The Great White North, my friends.Syms’s opening story, “On the Line,” (Journey Prize-nominated) was one of the highlights for me. It’s a fantastically-written piece about Wanda, a woman working in a meatpacking plant in a small Alberta town who dreams of making dresses instead of carving carcasses. Syms writes, “I’m no longer slicing meat; I’m assembling a simple, elegant wedding dress out of peau de soie, an A-line with pleats that run from the waist to feet.” The details are so rich and the feelings so real, including her tryst with a married Sudanese coworker, you’d be sure Syms had worked in a meatpacking plant himself (my understanding is he has not).“Family Circus” was another standout about a crystal meth-smoking, identify-thieving mom who plans her escape with her kids to a quiet town on the shore of Lake Winnipeg. Syms has a knack for honestly capturing diverse voices and getting into the minds of his unusual characters. He writes, “I know I need to get off it, but for now speed actually makes me a better mom. I manage to keep things tidy and focus on working the mail, and the money we get from that helps me feed the kids. Rent, meth, beer, food—in that order. And then clothes and toys for the kids. Oh, and formula for Cindy. I know it wouldn’t be safe for her to take my milk. I’m not stupid.”Syms excels at sympathizing with society’s marginalized characters, exploring the sometimes harsh circumstances people are born into or stuck in and testing their resiliency. Many of Syms’s protagonists appear to feel alienated and imprisoned. In “The Exchange,” he writes about a boy “entering a new school in a new city more than halfway through the school year.” In “The Eden Climber,” Cassandra, an elderly woman, equates life in an old folks home as “physical incarceration” and refers to the workers there as her “captors.” In “Get Brenda Foxworthy,” a high school outsider who is “smarter than average,” seeks revenge against the “rich posers,” “‘gifted’ since birth: gifted with violin lessons and trips to Europe, granted anything they ever wanted.” Interestingly, some of the shackles that Syms’s characters bear aren’t as obvious, nor are the ways his characters imprison and alienate others, as Syms covertly explores racism and homophobia throughout the collection.Sex plays a prominent role in Syms’s stories. His characters, in fact, often act out sexually. A woman ditches her husband and son to have sex with a biker dude in a campground bathroom. An incapacitated senior citizen gets pleasured by a young orderly. Another woman in a deteriorating marriage role plays mommy to a neighbor living an adult-baby lifestyle. Some readers may see these scenes as too-hard-to-believe twists. But perhaps Syms’s characters are trying to exert control with their bodies, one of the few things they have control over in seemingly uncontrollable circumstances.As a side note, my wife is originally from Canada so I’m a sucker for the Canadian references throughout the book, like Marineland, “God Save the Queen,” and Blackberries, which make the book unmistakably Can Lit.Nothing Looks Familiar is a raw, powerful, sometimes jarring collection of stories that take you into worlds you can only hope you’ll never have to see. As I read through it, there were times I felt uncomfortable, lost in unknown surroundings. That’s one of the marks of great fiction, isn’t it? Taking the reader out his comfort zone, only to later appreciate what he’s experienced.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five Stars By sherry morris Love the truth told in this book. Excellent writer.
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