Bird Eat Bird

Bird Eat Bird

A review of Bird Eat Bird by Katrina Best

Published on July 1, 2010

Bird Eat Bird
Katrina Best

Insomniac Press
$19.95
paper
168pp
9781897178942

On a sunny day in a park, with an eclectic and vocal crowd as witness, an unlikely event occurs: a pelican eats a pigeon. So begins Katrina Best’s Bird Eat Bird, an effective and witty first collection of short stories. Six cringe-inducing tales, Best’s stories are close examinations of brief and often disastrous moments in her characters’ lives. In just a few pages, Best is able to convey a setting and establish tension between characters. These characters are often weird, but Best gives them enough attention that they are also believable. Absent of cliché, the details that make up and surround her characters give them life: “Meredith watched, spellbound, as the pack- age of tripe shimmied towards her. It was the only item on the conveyor belt moving autonomously, a quivering cube of translucence, its slimy off-white contents encased in see-through plastic.” Best’s commitment to her characters’ trials makes this collection a compelling, though sometimes uncomfortable read. mRb

Vanessa Bonneau lives in Montreal, where it took super-ish hero efforts to make it to spring. But now, tulips!

Comments

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Reviews

Sugaring Off

Sugaring Off

Fanny Britt brings her readers on a powerful journey through privilege, belonging, and the search for connection.

By Ashley Fish-Robertson

Firebugs

Firebugs

Nino Bulling's Firebugs is a story about standing on the precipice of transformation, even as the ground erodes beneath.

By Alexandra Sweny

What I Know About You

What I Know About You

Éric Chacour’s debut novel is a familiar tale of forbidden love bolstered by the fresh insight of a first-time author.

By Alexandra Sweny