Museum of the Weird

This was Gray's first book of stories, and at times they read like exercises written for a MFA level creative writing class. Their brevity is admirable, but at times slight. They are unfailingly clever, but at times coy.

If Gray has an ongoing theme, it is the complications of dating and relationships among her protagonists. One young woman begins giving birth to a new child every night. Her boyfriend tries to be supportive but the situation becomes stressful. Beth is on a date to a fancy restaurant with a man she badly wants to impress, Her discomfort is greatly increased when she is served a plate of hair. She knows show did not intentionally order it. Dale and Howard are married to a penknife and a bag of frozen tilapia, respectively. On a fishing trip they have an awkward encounter with a live woman. An armadillo puts the moves on a penguin in a bar. Claire's husband Alex strips down and moves into his suitcase.

I could have used more moments of truly off-the-wall weirdness. Like the time a clerical error sends a cage of javelinas to handle a hostage negotiation. As in most of Gray's ficition, things do not go well.