Oh Don't You Cry for Me
Shirley, Philip. Oh Don’t You Cry for Me.
Lookout Mountain, TN: Jefferson Press, 2008.
200 pp. $19.95 (hardcover)
Set in Mississippi and Alabama, these stories explore the world-weary, sadder aspects of life. Acts of drinking, revenge, loving, raw sex, resignation, and violence are interspersed with the drag of getting through life day by day. Some stories are as short as four pages; others are more involved. The time span covered by each story ranges from a few minutes to several months, but each is a precise description of a life – some told in first person, others in third person. Each is concise and elegant, but ultimately a downer. An overwhelming sense of futility, with an undercurrent of menace, pervades each tale. At the end of it all, the title is precisely what you should be doing for these people – crying for them, because a lot of them really need it.
This book is recommended for public and university libraries, and possibly high school libraries with Advanced Placement English classes. The book is intended for mature readers.
Susan T. Byra
Retired Director
East Mississippi Regional Library
Entry Filed under: Book Reviews
Posted on: September 29th, 2009
