Emergency by Kathleen Alcott

Emergency Reviews

• 
  s.penkevich

  While discussing her writing with
  The Paris Review, author Kathleen Alcott brought up the 1979 Smith College commencement address from poet
  Adrienne Rich where she discusses the ‘toxicity of female tokenism.’ As Alcott explains ‘that lie sits on the tongue of American capitalism—it’s not other women you need, not equality for all women. It’s the exceptionalism of you,’ and this theme seems to permeate her debut short story collection, Emergency. Across these seven brilliantly layered stories are the lives of women in reaction to their past, often having given into the belief of exceptionalism and found that the older men they married to enter a world of wealth and comfort offered no respite from the patriarchal ills they would eventually find stifling and from which they would flee. Alcott has such an intelligent and fluid prose that would make you assume it were already a celebrated classic were the stories not set in the modern world, and her writing can deftly sneak into the most vulnerable spaces in her characters as well as the reader as she makes us confront the questions of ‘who I was or how I suffered.’ Alcott’s Emergency examines the struggles to escape our former selves and atone for our pasts while also offering an intricate critique on class climbing, marriage and, ultimately, the fraught realities of women in a society where guilt and shame is doled out simply for having feelings.
  
  ‘Few of us what to believe that our pain is so common it can be treated.’
  
  A recently diovrced woman is rumored to have passed as a teenager to hang with the boys, another finds nude photos of her mother in an art exhibit, there are musings on delinquent pasts, the loss of a friend, and plenty of guilt or recontextualizing relationships due to stories of violence or even the COVID pandemic. This is a crisp collection, and while it is a succinct seven stories each has such a vastness of insight and feeling that the collection as a whole feels so much sturdier and bulkier than most. I cannot heap enough praise on Alcott’s prose and all the subtle nuances and layers of insight she gracefully unearths with it like a shovel that can strike a murky, rocky soil and extract only gold every time. Each sentence grasps psychological investigations that pull us through these tales—frequently bumping through emotional landscapes of detachment and muted sadness—where by the end we feel we’ve experienced a whole life within the single slice of life. As she writes in Natural Light,where finding a nude photo of the character’s mother leads to a new angle on her mother’s life as well as uneasily assessing her own failed marriage, ‘your real self was mostly revealed in negotiation with the unforseen element,’ and across each of these stories we see how a new twist in life shakes the character’s whole timeline into the light for examination.
  
  Emergency is bookended by two absolute knock-out stories, with the title story offering a collective narration on the rumors of an artist’s behavoir following her divorce, and Temporary Housing that offers a series of gut punches as a woman, having escaped an impoverished past riddled with drugs and drinking, reflects on the intensely intimate—always bordering on, but never quiet reaching erotic—friendship with a girl. Each story unlocks a dynamic portrait of their lives in context with a narrative action that is relatively brief: the first being the woman allowing teenage boys to assume she is a fellow teenager and party with them and the latter around a fight leaving the narrator with a chipped tooth after a prank potentially ruins a neighbor’s marriage. But in both, and most of these stories, we see the girl these women once were in light of the ways they have found to survive.
  

  ‘‘Maybe we aren’t girls, surely we were never children, but we might have the talents of animals, sensing everything that wants to kill us and that we need to kill. Hills aren’t a problem, gates we can perch on, dark we can see in, and now we’re quiet by the glow of that couple’s back window.’

  
  In
  Adrienne Rich’s aformentioned speech, she warns that a privileged education can tokenize a woman and contort her to the perspectives of the oppressors, shucking off the needs of women as a whole to hide in privileged lifestyles and used as an example that perpetuates patriarchy. It isn’t denying an oppressive system but believing oneself an exception to it, or as Alcott says in her interview ‘the great lie of the exceptional woman who travels in male circles.’ We see this directly in the opening story where she writes:
  

  ‘Helen still believed in a notion we had all worked to disavow, as all adults must: that to any rule, she might prove the brillant exception.’

  
  For believing in these myths, these characters often have to pay it down like a debt the rest of their lives.
  
  When the women in many of these stories choose a partner, they find the financial gain to be a comfort but realize they have become a token of themselves, often berated for their feelings (or having them utterly dismissed), groomed to mature into the sort of women the older men want instead of who they are, and expected to be an accessory instead of a person. Instead of understanding themselves in context with actions, they are seeing themselves contextualized to fit the desires of others, such as the observation about Helen in the first story:
  

  ‘Her age, she might have realized then, had never belonged to her: she’d been younger or older, the thing by which somebody else felt a sense of himself.’ (emphasis mine)

  
  I really appreciated the collective narration in this story, told as a ‘we’ such as ‘we had stopped inquiring’ or ‘we can all agree it’s clear, that she basically believed those years were null and void, that age had not accrued.’ In a way it feels like society rationalizing and prescribing the reasoning, outside of Helen’s own inner rationality, the ways a person becomes an object for social media to write threads explaining the context what someone else’s choices ‘clearly’ mean as if they are the authority over someone else’s impulses. Helen is an artist with a massive instagram following, are these her fans, her friends, and could Helen even know the distinction? Social media plays heavily into the story Reputation Management where the narrators guilt at having erased the accusations of sexual violence of a man from the internet (her job is what the title implies) is suddenly confronted with her being the target of the day on social media after a public outburst. This extends the theme to show how everyone can suddenly become a object for society to dissect, though her being labeled ‘hot bigot’ in posts reminds us of the extra layer of sexualization that befalls women even when being insulted.
  
  ‘Sometimes you made a mistake and it feels like a blessing: lucky and funny: clear and perfect: so much purer than anything you could contrive.’
  
  I love Alcott’s attention to language in this collection. She has an exceptional skill with syntax and there are some great passages on how our stock phrases are an insight into defining a person. But we also see how a person is more than just one aspect despite how society tends to shortcut a singular angle to define the whole of a person. In A World Without Men, for instance, we witness a lengthy marriage become reassessed during the COVID pandemic when they are staying at home together all the time. The wife finds her compass for understanding herself is lost without having others to bounce situations off of and observes that ‘rather than making her feel connected to all life, it told her that the small details of hers didn’t matter.’ All these disparate pieces of a person seem to unravel without social interaction and we see how society is oppressive but also how it can be vital to understand ourselves in the context of others. I appreciate that Alcott can make us empathize with difficult characters as well and reminds us that flaws and frustrations offer a texture to which we can better cling to the character studies and narrative.
  
  ‘He scrounged up some stained little words that we’ve all, in selfishness, used. There is only so much you can do.’
  
  A round of applause for Alcott and Emergency is certainly in order. There is a quiet tenderness to the way she approaches her characters while still opening up their biographies to probe the most vulnerable moments of their inner-selves and a rather incisive social critique going on all the while. The tight selection of stories (some stronger than others) is also refreshing and garners a heightened focus on the prevailing themes that bind these stories together as much as the physical binding itself. Alcott is a maestro with words and these stories move in surprising ways all culminating for a brilliantly executed collection that manages to be both soft and cutting at the same time.
  
  4.5/5
• 
  Sujoya(theoverbookedbibliophile) {Hope to catch up soon!}

  4.6⭐
  
  Emergency by Kathleen Alcott is an exceptionally well-written collection of seven short stories that revolve around themes of marriage and relationships, friendship, regret, conscience and guilt, poverty and addiction, and ambition and compromise to name a few.
  
  The title story, “Emergency” (4/5) revolves around a woman whose life post her divorce creates a ripple in her former circle of acquaintances. In “Worship” (4.5/5) we meet a woman who moves halfway across the country only to discover that there was a lot she did know about the man with whom she was about to begin a new life. A woman finds a photograph of her late mother in a compromising position on display in a museum exhibit that compels her to reflect on her own life and choices in Natural Light (5/5). “A World Without Men” (5/5) follows a couple, married for over forty years, as they are forced to take stock of their relationship while forced to shelter in place during the pandemic. In “Part of the Country” (4/5) we follow a woman who strikes out on her own as she contemplates ending her marriage. In Reputation Management (4.5/5) a young woman experiences a moral dilemma when torn between her professional commitment and personal accountability. We follow her as she is plagued by feelings of guilt and finds it increasingly difficult to remain detached when she learns of a tragedy that she feels could have been prevented. The final story in this collection, Temporary Housing (5/5), revolves around the complex feelings of nostalgia, guilt and despair our protagonist, now a successful adult, experiences as she reflects on the friends and the life she has behind.
  
  The women in these stories are flawed and real and the situations they find themselves in are believable and relatable as are their reactions. Not all of these characters might come across as particularly likable (some will find it easy to judge them) and while we may find some of their choices questionable and express disbelief at the poor judgment they exhibit in crucial moments, the author provides enough insight to allow us to attempt to understand them and their motivations. The tone of these stories varies between reflective, melancholic and defiant with a few moments of dry humor peppered in between.
  
  Do not mistake these stories to be easy or light reading. Despite the length of these stories, the author achieves a level of depth to these characters and the storylines that I could not believe could be possible in a short story format. Each of these stories is thought-provoking, insightful and intense. Exquisite prose, complex characters and the varied themes that are explored make for an absorbing read.
  
  My favorite quote:
  “We’re born knowing everything, which is why we wail. We begin to forget, which is how we can stop. And here’s the thing: here’s the thing: here’s the strangest, loving thing, which helps until it doesn’t, which is kind until it’s wicked: At the end of your life, you’ve forgotten the most.” (Temporary Housing)
  
  Many thanks to W.W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The book is due to be released on July 18, 2023.
  
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• 
  Cherise Wolas

  This is how you put a story collection together. Not by collating 15 or 20 stories together, even if published in magazines prior, but with a focus and a theme, limited to seven, that are sharp and devastating and written gorgeously with a surfeit of incandescent details, starring women in their own lives, haunted by themselves, their pasts, their parents, and upbringings, class, love, violence, desire, and more. Six out of the seven will stay with me in some form or another.
  
  Thanks to W.W. Norton and Netgalley for an ARC
• 
  Lindsay Hunter

  I was trying to think what my favorite stories in this collection are and I realized that I was just naming each and every one. I am so happy to be in possession of new Alcott and so sad that I already devoured it.
• 
  Ruth

  i’m dead at how good this book is. there are no words
• 
  Nikki Volpicelli

  This book. Particularly, the last story. I’m destroyed. Some of the most beautiful sentences I’ve ever read.
• 
  Duncan Birmingham

  High stakes, beautiful sentences and damaged characters on the verge of ruin; this hit the trifecta for me. Great collection.
• 
  Ross M

  This is a tremendous collection of short stories. Alcott's inherently beautiful prose is stunning as always and here it's used sharply to explore the confidences and anxieties of these very modern characters. The titular story "Emergency" features a haunting plural narration that views the protagonist's geographic, lustful and depressive confusion from the perfect distance. "Natural Light" precisely describes the exhausting task of reconciling one's own decisions within both distant and immediate familial contexts. The brilliant final five paragraphs of "Temporary Housing," particularly how they reduce the overwhelming nostalgia and despair of the whole, cannot be compared to another contemporary writer with whom I'm familiar. I'm not sure what else to say. Every story is heartbreaking. Every story is funny and revelatory. I read literary fiction to discover truths that are new to me and in this book I found more than a handful that I won't forget.
• 
  Frank Atlas

  Emergency is a series of short stories mostly following people who seem to be at the precipice of making a decision that will take their life in a different direction. The writing in this was really nice and poetic, painting a fantastic picture of emotions, and the struggling of whether or not things will remain the same or decide to have them change. The 1st story ("Emergency") immediately reminded me of reading "The Virgin Suicides" and "Rest and Be Thankful" with the words painted like an artist on a canvas. The 4th story ("A World Without Men") was an ambitious choice writing from the perspective of an elderly woman, but felt realistic and genuine. While a couple of the stories fell a little flat for me, in particular the 3rd story was a bit drawn out and the ending felt a little flat, but overall the stories were very engaging and Kathleen Alcott has a breathtaking way with words.
  
  
  "Emergency" by Kathleen Alcott has a expected publishing date of July 18th, 2023
• 
  Rachel Engel

  As is the case with most short story collections, I enjoyed about half of the stories while the other half left much to be desired. Specifically, the front end of the anthology: Emergency, Worship, and Natural Light, were exceptional; the latter end was forgettable, which was a shame because it's what will decide how readers end up feeling about the collection generally.
  
  While Alcott's writing style takes a moment to warm up to, I enjoyed her matter of fact tone. I'll be keeping an eye on future releases knowing I did truly enjoy some of the stories included in this anthology.
  
  Thanks to Netgalley for the and W. W. Norton & Company for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Kelly Dienes

  Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
  
  This honestly just didn't work for me. Rarely have I finished a book of short stories and have been unable to remember a single one when I'm done. That sounds like a huge insult but really it might just be me--everyone else seems to find the stories really profound and that's cool for them. Alcott can write a really nice and interesting sentence, I will give it that.
• 
  Scott Wilson

  Very satisfying collection. A touch more editing might have prevented a couple of glaring dangling participles and the odd repetition of the $5 word "captious" across a couple of stories, most of which attempt, mostly with success, similar vocabulary extenders. Nothing close to a happy ending here, and really most kinds of satisfaction also stay out of reach. Most of the time this predictable emotional architecture is built sturdily enough that the results are resonant rather than distancing.
• 
  Katie Coleman

  I love beautiful sentences that explore power dynamics in interpersonal relationships. Alcott is a master at this. A stunning exploration of sex, class and power. Sensual and strong stories from a powerful intellect.
• 
  Susan Hiler

  An artfully written collection of short stories about women facing likely life altering decisions. It’s reflective and emotional, exploring big themes via small glimpses into the lives of ordinary women.
• 
  isa

  pretty good short stories - entertaining but not that moving/well written!
• 
  Joe Canas

  3.5 stars
• 
  Loré

  first three or four stories are incredible! but the other five or so fell flat for me, still recommend it overall.
• 
  Karen

  4.5 stars rounded down.