Labor Day by Nathan Graziano is a slickly-produced chapbook of six short stories divided up into three separate sections. Any reader of Graziano's work (poetry or fiction) can more or less predict the contents of this book -- gritty, hard-edge stories written in a no-nonsense style with strong characters and straightforward plots.
The six stories are all entertaining, but the one drawback they share (except for the title story) is the lack of a point. I came away from each of the first five stories wondering why the author wanted me to read it. Every character Graziano brings to life is fully-fleshed and three-dimensional, but the stories they are thrown into read more like a random slice of life than anything else.
Graziano is a master storyteller, and his plots are all intriguing and original. "Pal, the Pit, and the Pig" is the tale of a budding poet and his summer working as a dishwasher in a busy restaurant. Graziano's tongue-in-cheek description of the main character's imagined rise to literary fame is the highlight of this story.
"Bumps in the Road" describes a journalist's experience with a harmless but embarrassing STD. It is a short, mildly humorous tale that would have been a great story if it had a better ending.
"The Hand That Spanks You" revolves around a pretty girl and two guys' very different attempts to lay a hand on her backside. Graziano's able storytelling and good use of background detail shone through in this story.
"Beneath the Golden Arches" is the story of an overweight ex-Walmart employee and an overweight high school girl, and how they come to meet each other. Right at the climax the story surpasses the reader's suspension of disbelief, and the ending seems disjointed and rushed.
"Bad Lungs" describes a young boy's battle with the world, both on a physical and psychological level. It is a well-told story that brings to life the plight of single mothers and their children, who are often forced to grow up before their time.
"Labor Day" is perhaps the most complete story of the six. It describes a small group of friends' lazy evening spent drinking, and it wraps itself up very nicely. This is easily the best story of the book.
Labor Day appears to be out of print, but you may be able to find a copy somewhere. It was fairly priced at $5 (+ $2 S&H) from the publisher, Bottle of Smoke Press. The first 50 copies of the book sold contained a letterpressed one-page broadside, signed by the author.
(Originally posted on Helium.com, 2009)
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