Pieces for the Left Hand

After the frenzied intensity of his last book, Mailman , Lennon presents us with one hundred very short, beautifully crafted vignettes that aptly capture the oddness of everyday life.

In his introduction, the author tells us that some of the stories are true, but he also admits that 'Some have been embellished, or fabricated entirely.' (Is he being honest about this, though?) The stories certainly have the appearance and feel of truth, and this I sense is the most important thing about them.

A man describes the beauty of his town's sunset to a visiting French man, only to discover that the tourist was asking for the whereabouts of a toilet, not twilight; three people witness a crime, but they all remember details of the incident differently; a chef goes to great lengths to cook the perfect meal for a condemned man, but it is returned to the kitchen uneaten; the residents of a town are careful not to intrude upon the privacy of a celebrity resident, who takes this as unfriendliness and moves on.

Prosaically put, Lennon's point - if indeed he is trying to make a point - seems to be that life is full of strrange conflicts, misunderstandings and coincidences, and that these experiences, common to us all, can and do enrich the seeming mundanity of our existence.