Cast Upon the Day
by Thomas E. Kennedy
Published by Hopewell Publications (August release)
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Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart
Maybe it was because I read the introduction. I never do that and it might have clouded my reading of Thomas E. Kennedy’s new collection of short stories, Cast Upon the Day. I couldn’t resist perusing Robert Gover’s (author of On the Run with Dick and Jane) comments. According to Gover, Kennedy’s collection contains “the soft gleam of the comical.” I’m sure that did it; I didn’t see anything remotely funny about any of the 11 main characters. Sad maybe; pathetic in some cases, but nothing comical.
Kennedy’s stories left me unfilled and dissatisfied with each protagonist. And they all ran together. It was hard to discern one character from another. There is also the exorbitant number of pop culture references. I think my own memories of these things got in the way and clouded the stories’ progression. Another thing that got in my way that each character is a man and seemed interchangeable until I got to the last three stories. There the plots solidified and snagged my ragtag interest. Structure wise, there is nothing discernibly wrong with Kennedy’s work. Most of it merely failed to grab me.
“The Pleasure of a Man and Woman Together on Earth” was my second favorite story. For me, it had more depth and the characters were well drawn. My favorite story in the collection was the final story, “Fellow Travelers” that I felt, instead of merely reading. Finley is a marvelous composite of all divorced people who liked their ex-in-laws. The need to say a final good-bye long after we have said earlier good-byes was rich in language and sentiment.
Kennedy is an American writer now living in Denmark. Although Cast Upon the Day won’t be on my top ten list come the end of the year, I see a literary voice that seems to whisper in my ear that there is more to this writer than this collection. I will be investigating more of his work.
Armchair Interview says: Watch for more from this author.