Bishop seems to thrive on existential angst--predicting the worst will happen, knowing it won't, and feeling like he's come out on top--which breeds a strange hopeless optimism that shows up in his work. In the short story "Scene From Hollywood Apartment No. 425," for example, a couple is flirting, but not really caring if they fuck or not, and when they don't there's no disappointment either way. It doesn't matter what they do. "The Birth of Lonely Man" chronicles some easily recognized drinking habits: going to a bar because of boredom, being bored at the bar, hitting a liquor store, then going home to drink alone. While this collection includes a lot of poems, the fiction is clearly Bishop's strong point--the three stories are easily worth the price of the chap.--Oberc
This review originally appeared in TapRoot Reviews #5,
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