You Shall Never Know Security (2011)
As a rule, I don’t usually read short story collections by single authors. I much prefer a buffet of authors when it comes to the short form but when a book lands on my doorstep by an author who’s been previously published in a Comet Press collection, I make an exception.
You Shall Never Know Security is the first collection of short stories published by New York author J.R. Hamantaschen. It says in the bio in the back that the author is only 27 years old which is pretty damn young to have written enough content for a 260+ page book of stories. Dude has been busy for sure. The stories are very unlike most of the work found in the Comet Press collections. For the most part, its not overtly gory or sexual in nature, though you’ll find plenty of graphic stuff sprinkled about like the outer reaches of a landmine detonation. The book focuses more on complex word play much more akin to the style of H.P. Lovecraft in its wordiness, though certainly much more dark than ole Howard ever went.
The stories are largely about the pain of being young in the real world for the first time. Love lost or love never found are themes repeated throughout the collection. The lack of knowledge of self, the questioning of life, and the futility of love permeate the collection. Honestly, that’s not where I am in life and I don’t look fondly upon those years of uncertainty of self so this collection was an uncomfortable read to be sure. Though I guess that’s the point isn’t it? This isn’t a fun collection, though there is an awesomely funny and disturbing story about the embarrassment of having to drop a deuce on a date that rings very true. The title says it all, this isn’t a safe collection. It’s going to make your skin crawl and darken your mood. It’s going to remind you of how fragile we all are and how naive we all once were and how painful it was. It’s full of angst and depression, a bubbling cauldron of adolescent fears and mistakes, anger and betrayals. It’s a nasty piece of work that never falls back on tried and true tropes like ghosts, zombies, and slashers. The collection attempts to stand on it’s own two feet without relying on easy characterization and cliches, and I admire it for that. It just didn’t work for me because I’m in a very different place in my life and I’ve moved on to different hopes and fears so it was tough for me to connect with the words written here. I feel their power, I understand them, but it’s just simply not for this married dude with kids. Different worlds, different fears. I’d love to see what the author creates moving forward as the discomfort of daily life plays such a large role in the fiction herein. Someday our paths will become closer and the work with become that much more powerful for me. Maybe I should fear that day?
All in all it’s a solid collection by a talented author with a strong voice. I look forward to seeing him grow and mature like a fine wine.