So Many Precious Books, So Little Time: Do Not Touch by Billie Livingston

Monday, October 18, 2010

Do Not Touch by Billie Livingston

This is the second in a series of short story reviews of authors I will be seeing at the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival. The event I will see them at is #64 Short Stories, Varied Voices, on Sunday, October 24th.

This short story by Billie Livingston appeared in The Walrus and is from her new book Greedy Little Eyes. You can read it here.

The first sentence of this story is, "You are never as lonely as when you are lonely in the company of your lover." This sets the tone for the entire story.

The narrator of the story is a un-named woman who has a boyfriend, Thomas. She was working in a record shop and because of a comment he made about her, she was promoted to assistant manager. She said, "Thomas has clout in the music world."

Soon after that she moved in with Thomas. She said, "I should have known something was wrong when Thomas sucked back the better part of a twenty-sixer of Glenlivet before he could kiss me the first time." There was something wrong however, I wont tell you any more because I don't want to risk spoilers.

The story feels a little choppy and rushed to me but does reach a surprising conclusion. From reading this very short story, all of eight pages, I can tell Billie Livingston has the gift of prose. I look forward to reading the rest of this short story collection.

Please stay tuned tomorrow, for my review of 'Bow Grip' by short story writer Ivan E. Coyote. She has done several short story collection but Bow Grip is her first novel. She will also be appearing at event #64 Short Stories, Varied Voices, on Sunday, October 24th.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 3:38 PM