Zigzag by Richard Thornley

In each of the three novellas an unnamed energy threatens to erupt. In Gastarbeiter a young man’s honor compels him to take the wheel of a gigantic eighteen-wheeler for the first time in his life. You can drive unless you don’t think you can, are the words of the experienced driver before he hands over and falls asleep, and the young man’s spirit is tested to the limit. Tourist Attraction is about a Jordanian salesman who sells more onyx eggs and plaster Davids than anyone else in the San Lorenzo market of Florence. It is there that he finds that marriage to an American tourist is not necessarily the best way to get to Los Angeles. Thornley brilliantly conveys the tensions which breed in a French anarchist commune, as natural shocks and human temperaments intrude on the mindless preparations for winter in Jewels. Richard Thornley maintains a masterful restraint and has a marvelous ear for the odd communications that can take place between people of different cultures. Zig-Zag is filled with a descriptive gift that is startling and a style that makes one want to read more.