Near Flesh: Stories
The collection is a welcome reminder that literature can be not only a showcase for polished, refined sentiment but also an arena in which both reader and writer grapple — with imminent challenges, with their own psyches, with the uncertainty of survival ... Dunn’s pieces have an almost irrepressible kinetic energy ... While there are some pieces in the collection that are only single-round bouts...they cut to the quick of life and highlight the struggle for survival even in cultivated, orderly spaces. Her fascination with the mechanics of thinking and acting when few options exist lends her characters’ efforts a gravity that is wholly without sentimentality or overseriousness. That quality, in itself, is a knockout punch.
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The stories offer a wide array of style and substance ... Generally hold up despite revealing their age. There does seem a haphazardness to pulling them together, but it’s inevitable with a posthumous collection of stories ... For the enthusiasts who have created Dunn’s status as a cult icon, no doubt this collection will fulfill their desire for a complete body of work. Individually, the stories are tightly edited narratives exploring a variety of themes, but they lack the cohesion we’ve come to expect in story collections.
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A posthumous collection explores the strange, ethereal worlds of author Dunn ... Perfect for readers who enjoy dark short stories.
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