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A review by pharmadelica
The Ice Cream Man and Other Stories by Sam Pink
4.0
Haven't read anything from Sam since I was 19, so I was interested to see how I would come back to it.
Bottom line: Sam definitely has a cult on here that will inflate ratings, so he's not for everyone even if he averages like a 4.06. But this is good stuff. More of the same, but noticeably more mature and with a better ear for dialogue.
Majority of the stories here are like Sam's older stuff. Lone, but personable and quick-to-make-friends protagonist works some dead end manual jobs and copes with some existential anxiety rendered with surreal, gory imagery.
What I noticed in this collection, though, is a greater focus on other characters. I'm down for this. Old books felt 100% like you were trapped in Sam's head, and everyone else felt like some kind of ghost or non-thought. It was pretty claustrophobic. But here, stories like the alley one (which the top review here is acting like is the worst story in the collection, even though it's absolutely not) treat Sam's condition, rightly, like something endured by the masses. There's solidarity between him and the two kids stuck in the alley. They're not just props anymore. The Florida factory story is big on this too.
Best story, for sure, is Blue Victoria. It's Sam's style, but it's fully dramatic and character driven. There is real suspense and pathos and energy exchanged between the characters. The ending was also the most I've read him tap into emotion. You could accuse it of being melodramatic, but I think Sam's style, and its place among the more flippant stories here, lets me buy it. I would love to see Blue Victoria as a short film or play.
That said, the Michigan section that closes feels a bit weaker. The first story there is actually the worst one in the collection. The one about the dog also didn't grip me that much. The wedding story that closes is funny, and filled with a lot of good observations, but it goes on forever and then ends super abruptly. Felt like Sam wasn't sure how to wrap up there.
But that's forgivable. The peaks here are really high. Wasn't expecting to enjoy the Ice Cream Man as much as I did. My favourite Sam now for sure.
Bottom line: Sam definitely has a cult on here that will inflate ratings, so he's not for everyone even if he averages like a 4.06. But this is good stuff. More of the same, but noticeably more mature and with a better ear for dialogue.
Majority of the stories here are like Sam's older stuff. Lone, but personable and quick-to-make-friends protagonist works some dead end manual jobs and copes with some existential anxiety rendered with surreal, gory imagery.
What I noticed in this collection, though, is a greater focus on other characters. I'm down for this. Old books felt 100% like you were trapped in Sam's head, and everyone else felt like some kind of ghost or non-thought. It was pretty claustrophobic. But here, stories like the alley one (which the top review here is acting like is the worst story in the collection, even though it's absolutely not) treat Sam's condition, rightly, like something endured by the masses. There's solidarity between him and the two kids stuck in the alley. They're not just props anymore. The Florida factory story is big on this too.
Best story, for sure, is Blue Victoria. It's Sam's style, but it's fully dramatic and character driven. There is real suspense and pathos and energy exchanged between the characters. The ending was also the most I've read him tap into emotion. You could accuse it of being melodramatic, but I think Sam's style, and its place among the more flippant stories here, lets me buy it. I would love to see Blue Victoria as a short film or play.
That said, the Michigan section that closes feels a bit weaker. The first story there is actually the worst one in the collection. The one about the dog also didn't grip me that much. The wedding story that closes is funny, and filled with a lot of good observations, but it goes on forever and then ends super abruptly. Felt like Sam wasn't sure how to wrap up there.
But that's forgivable. The peaks here are really high. Wasn't expecting to enjoy the Ice Cream Man as much as I did. My favourite Sam now for sure.