Any Small Thing Can Save You - Hardcover

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Just as the title of this book encapsulates its overall theme, so the subtitle indicates its structure. From "A Is for Asp" to "Z Is for Zoo," this collection of 26 vignettes attempts to capture something of the emotional life of the main character, usually a middle-aged woman. Contact of some sort with a particular animal or group of animals provides a cluster of thoughts or a moment of insight or illumination into the protagonist's situation. Setting is also important; many of the stories take place in the Rocky Mountain West, where the main character is often physically as well as emotionally isolated. In most of these tales, however, the purported connections between animal and human seem meaningless or strained. Difficulties in relationships, often marital, may be somewhat illuminated by these tenuous encounters but are rarely made better. The author of many award-winning stories, Adam is the recipient of an Idaho Commission on the Arts fellowship. Recommended for libraries where interest in women's fiction is strong. Jack Hafer, Chesterfield Cty. P.L., VA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Medieval bestiaries were compendiums of animal lore particularly descriptions of exotic and fantastic beasts as well as anthologies of moral instruction: the fiery breath of the dragon provoked fear of hell, while the pelican, bringing her dead children back to life with blood from her own breast, was an allegorical Christ. The animals in this collection of 26 vignettes (one for each letter of the alphabet) from Adam (Sleeping with the Buffalo) are generally more commonplace than their antique counterparts, but the revelations they inspire are profoundly affecting and often gorgeous. Gently enveloped in a cloud of bats, a new widower gets a glimpse of universal harmony. A grizzly attack reminds a mother and daughter of their shared past and rekindles for a moment the intimacy they've lost. A woman sheltered by the routines of family and work rediscovers the dangerous thrill of being alive after consulting a psychic cat. Adam's stories are not reducible to the lessons they teach, though, and many of her tales resist the simple structures of fable. People stray into the animal kingdom, animals invade the mundane habitations of humans and these meetings open a way into mystery. In "Asp," wonder surprises a woman out of her fear of snakes: "She had wanted him to come back with her to see the snake, how green and perfect it was and how unexpected, because it was round and of a substance different from the things that belonged inside a house." Each entry in this bestiary is a wise meditation on the human experience. (Nov.)Forecast: The layout and trim size of this small, modest volume signal "gift book," and if it isn't overlooked, it should do well among literary readers and gift buyers alike.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Adam has woven an alphabet's worth of stories into a modern-day bestiary in which animals influence the lives of characters in succinct stories of revelation. In "H Is for Hen," for instance, 47-year-old Gene's feeling of kinship with the hen that has taken to roosting nightly on her porch railing is linked to the shock of learning that she was adopted. In "Red Pony," Helena eases her habitual sense of emptiness at holidays by purchasing her own horse some 40 years after her father promised her one and failed to deliver. In "Quail," an old beloved cat momentarily relives its hunting days as a covey of quail passes by, and its grieving family feels a moment of peace. Adam's stories are meditative and descriptive--the wings of migrating cranes creak as they fly overhead, displacing great "whumps" of air; a startled hen makes the sound of a parachute snapping open as it puffs its feathers--and they should be read slowly, one by one, to prolong the pleasure of their subtle interplay between human and beast. Suzanne Young
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