By Paul Beckman
One of the greatest things about this book is the feeling I got while reading that Tony Press and I could be sitting down chatting—or more likely walking—and I’d be listening to him tell me stories about friends, family members, or topics he’s heard. There is a skillful flow to his stories.
There are constants in these stories: movement-trains, cars, buses, or walking, and there is also an overriding understanding of the human condition. He shifts between time and location, focusing on themes such as lovers and war, amongst others.
In the opening story, “Take Me to Your Heart,” Alonzo Johnson experiences first love with an older woman after singing Elvis’s “Love Me Tender” to her. “I nailed that song . . . She put both hands on my face and kissed me for as long as the song lasted.” Press writes young love as well as anyone, and better than most.
The story “Always Another Straw” is an incredibly charming story about a pair of siblings, and it is layers deep with an ending that will make you want to re-read the story immediately. I did.
Another sibling story, “River Walk in a Railroad Town,” involves a young girl who tells her grandmother how she wishes for a sister, or even a brother. Her grandmother opens up about her sister as they walk along the river after church services, and as they sit on a bench dedicated to Armistice Day, the grandmother tells her granddaughter an unbelievably breathtaking story ending. This one will stay with the reader.
There’s a lot about war or wars in this collection—not so much the battlefield, although there is that setting, but also general discussions about wars: WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, draft-dodging, and the angst of waiting to find if you’ve been blessed with a high number or cursed with a low one during the Vietnam draft.
The sixties also bring out the “Funeral Season,” and Press handles this lifestyle problem as he does all of his work—with calmness and clarity, not screaming or blaming, which would not be uncalled for, given the circumstances.
The closing story in this collection, “At the Station,” is another train story that takes place in Spain, but it could have been anywhere. This tale is the perfect finale: A man on his way home observes another passenger—a very old man—standing, occasionally smoking, and occasionally taking a picture from the breast pocket of his jacket. The old man will look at it and then at other passengers boarding the train at each stop. The watching man has a choice to make: get off and switch to his train to Madrid, or continue to observe the old man who has mesmerized him.
Tony Press is a master story teller, and this skill is evident in each and every one of these stories. His voice is unique, as is his ability to write. Only a person who has “lived a life” could have written this fine collection.
Great review Paul and a book you can’t put down. Support our fellow writer friends and purchase. Congrats to Tony Press.