Our mainland pachyderms recently ventured out to some islands, courtesy of Jacob M. Appel’s Amazing Things Are Happening Here (available through Black Lawrence Press and Amazon). And despite the irony in the title’s origin, we found Appel’s worlds eye-opening and, well, amazing.
Familiar Places
Most of Appel’s collection takes place on or near either Cormorant Island, Florida, or Creve Coeur (“Heartbreak”), Rhode Island. While you won’t find either on Google Maps, Appel brings them to life with a keen use of familiar details.
We crossed the avenues named after celebrated admirals—Farragut, Decatur, John Paul Jones—though none had any connection to Amity Cove. Pumpkins crowded the pine-board tables in front of Bonner’s Outdoor Market. A blue-and-white banner hung from the roof of the reformed synagogue, greeting the Jewish New Year. I followed a slight detour along the waterfront, trying to avoid Saratoga Street, so instead we passed the chained gates of the amusement park, already deserted for the season, and the towering wooden loops of its landmark Thunder Coaster.
– from “Embers”by Jacob M. Appel
Appel’s settings feel lived in, whether we’re canvassing for a fringe candidate, or looking inside a Veterans’ Administration hospital. And by welcoming the reader in with believable settings, Appel can signal the later twists and stand-out moments.
“I spent many years teaching in Rhode Island and wintering off the Gulf Coast of Florida,” says Appel. “So these worlds have a grain of truth. But I warped them to the best of my abilities.”
Shapes of Love
In addition to familiar settings, Appel’s stories abound with authentic characters and complex relationships. No one appears flat or regular, and misshapen love triangles (or even parallelograms) drive many of the plots. A dying ex-husband returns and rekindles a woman’s love, disrupting her family and burgeoning relationship. Two elders with dementia find love in a senior residence, to the chagrin of their still-living spouses. Characters never let go of their crushes, no matter how unreasonable or damaging they may seem. Life happens according to human will and human hearts, rather than the plans of an author.
For us, “The Bigamist’s Accomplice” stood out as the highlight of this collection. (And no, not just because it opened with a pair of elephant statues!) Give it a read and re-think whether you value your partner or your relationship more.
Amazing Things Are Happening Here
With authenticity, however, comes a lack of tidy resolution. Appel’s stories frequently leave their main characters in the lurch. A fast-talking nurse never finds his missing mental patient. A marine animal rescue teases a boat pilot with another possible life, only to snatch it away. More often, protagonists find resolution only through a better understanding of themselves or the world.
It was true. She wasn’t [beautiful]. And for the first time in my life, I saw how something that small could explain everything, what had happened before and what would come after.
– from “Helen of Sparta” by Jacob M. Appel
Still, we leave each of Appel’s worlds feeling like we’ve seen something new, learned something. By showing us the everyday odd, Appel invites us to keep striving for ourselves. After all, any day might bring our lives something amazing.
You can pick up Amazing Things Are Happening Here from either Black Lawrence Press or Amazon. And keep an eye out for Appel’s book of ethical dilemmas, Who Says You’re Dead? coming soon from Workman Publishing.
Jacob M. Appel’s first novel, The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up, won the 2012 Dundee International Book Award and was published by Cargo. His short story collection, Scouting for the Reaper, won the 2012 Hudson Prize and was published by Black Lawrence Press in 2014. His most recent books include a novel, The Biology of Luck (Elephant Rock, 2013), an essay collection, Phoning Home (University of South Carolina Press, 2014) and a short story collection, Einstein’s Beach House (Pressgang/Butler University, 2014). Jacob’s short fiction has appeared in more than two hundred literary journals including Agni, Colorado Review, Gettysburg Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Prairie Schooner, Southwest Review, Threepenny Review, Virginia Quarterly Review and West Branch. His prose has won the Boston Review Short Fiction Competition, the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Award for the Short Story, the Dana Award, the Arts & Letters Prize for Fiction, the North American Review’s Kurt Vonnegut Prize, the Missouri Review’s Editor’s Prize, the Sycamore Review’s Wabash Prize, the Briar Cliff Review’s Short Fiction Prize, the Salem College Center for Women Writers’ Reynolds Price Short Fiction Award, the H. E. Francis Prize, the New Millennium Writings Fiction Award on four occasions, an Elizabeth George Fellowship and a Sherwood Anderson Foundation Writers Grant. His stories have been short-listed for the O. Henry Award (2001), Best American Short Stories (2007, 2008, 2013), Best American Nonrequired Reading (2007, 2008), and the Pushcart Prize anthology (2005, 2006, 2011, 2014). Jacob’s stage plays have been performed at New York’s Theatre Row, Manhattan Repertory Theatre, Adrienne Theatre (Philadelphia), Detroit Repertory Theatre, Heller Theater (Tulsa), Curtain Players (Columbus), Epilogue Players (Indianapolis), Open State Theatre (Pittsburgh), Intentional Theatre (New London), Little Theatre of Alexandria and elsewhere.
Jacob has taught most recently at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, at the Gotham Writers’ Workshop in New York City, and at Yeshiva College, where he was the writer-in-residence. He was honored with Brown’s Undergraduate Council of Students Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2003. He formerly held academic appointments at Pace University, Hunter College, William Paterson University, Manhattan College, Columbia University and New York University. Jacob holds a B.A. and an M.A. from Brown, an M.S. in bioethics from Albany Medical College, an M.A. and an M.Phil. from Columbia, an M.D. from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, an M.F.A. from N.Y.U. and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He also publishes in the field of bioethics and contributes regularly to such publications as the Journal of Clinical Ethics, the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, the Hastings Center Report and the Bulletin of the History of Medicine. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, Orlando Sentinel, The Providence Journal and many regional newspapers.