Maria Crossan

I admit I bought this anthology solely for the Amanda Michalopoulou story, which seems to be her only other publication in English besides her clever collection [I'd Like] which rachbxl and I so much admired.

Ten stories set in ten cities by ten international youngish authors (most seem to be born in the later 60s and 70s). Many of the stories are translated. Except for references specific to the city of a story's setting, I couldn't detect any individual 'feel' for any one city or another. Thus, these stories come across as essentially urban tales and perhaps it is the commonality of the urban experience that stands out as a whole.

As with most anthologies, there are some stories I liked better than others. The Michalopoulou story, "The Four Hundred Pleats" is one I liked. It's a tale of a graduate student, who after finishing her studies in the UK, reluctantly returns to Athens where she crosses paths with one of the stone-faced, elaborately dressed guards (evzones) at the Parliament.
The story tells of her interaction with him (he's not supposed to respond while on guard...) and trails off into a kind of fantasy which I won't give away.

Others I really liked were "A Man of the Streets" which follows one young man's interaction — relationship, if you will — with Georges Louis, a homeless man living on the streets of Paris. "The First Day of the Fourth Week" - is one day in the life of an unemployed man in Reykjavik. "Something for Nothing", set in Berlin, is about the relationship between a young woman and an older, overweight, middle-aged man she buys an "orangey red Swallow moped" from. At one point he takes her to an abandoned factory in what was East Berlin, a scene I found really interesting. I won't belabor my review by listing all the stories :-) There were only a few of the ten that I didn't respond to. Overall, a nice collection and nice sampling of international writers.… (meer)