Nancy's Reviews > The Bar at Twilight

The Bar at Twilight by Frederic Tuten was waiting to be read. I looked at the Contents and chose the shortest story, with the intriguing title L’Odyssee. Oh, the Odyssey in eleven pages. I can handle that.

I was reading about a sailor returned after a long absence. The woman demands proof that he is not another imposter. What comes out of his mouth had me laughing out loud. I was surprised, enchanted, delighted! This was Homer, reimagined through an iconic fictional figure. I was going to love these stories.

I was equally amused by The Garden Party in which a couple are waiting for caterers to arrive to set up their party, the man proffering his preference for the unexpected, the “the discordant” in art, which I had to look up. A series of, shall I say, unusual events ensue. And I realized the story was an example of the “discordant.”

Now, mind you, there are stories that struck me in a different way, that made me nostalgic for what I never had. People gathering at a local bar, sharing drinks and stories, bonding. Even if the patrons are horses or centaurs, their community was so lovely, dreamy, and reflective. It snows heavily in the stories, blanketing the earth. “Lets drink to the snow that keeps us here,” one proclaims, but in the end the party is drawn to the river and the open sea. I wanted to join them.

I loved the references to books and art, recognizing so many. One advises, “When you read a Russian novel, especially Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot, you learn all you need to know about life.” Malamud’s The Assistant, which I read as a teen because Mom was reading it. A character is impelled go to Philadelphia Museum of Art just to see Cezanne’s The Bathers, a work I remember vividly from years in Philly. Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises and Sunflowers.

What is it that moves me in life and in art? To the last, I answered, The Surprise.

from The Restaurant. The Concert. The Bar. The Bed. Le Petit Dejuener. by Frederic Tuten

As one character says, it is “the surprise” that I love, the unexpected that sets off the sparks in my head and the fullness in my heart. And the last surprise this volume held for me was the Story Dedications, and learning that each story was written with an artist in mind. I quickly looked up some of the names, and realized….I have to read these stories all over again, not naively this time, but armed with understanding their relationship.

I received an ARC from the publisher through LibraryThing. My review is fair and unbiased.