The Slow Vanishing by Maureen Sherbondy | A

Maureen Sherbondy's short story collection, The Slow Vanishing (September 2009), is aptly named. Her tales are like a tasting menu, giving the reader only a moment to savor a great bite before moving onto the next course.

The themes of her stories also reflect this idea of holding onto fleeting moments. Some, like "The Party Planner" and "What the Dead Desire," ponder life in its final hour and others, like "Catching the Bus" and "Head above Water," tackle moving on after death. Sandwiched between these serious pieces are comic tales like "Three Monkeys" and "Her Hair," which sound like daydreams gone wrong. Sherbondy's endearing characters and poignant descriptions about lives that are not too different from our own are the connecting thread.

Although The Slow Vanishing is Sherbondy's debut short story collection, her talent as a poet shines through her work. Sherbondy, a Rutgers alumna, has written two poetry compilations, After the Fairy Tale and Praying in Coffee Shops, and has received numerous honors, including the Hart Crane Poetry Award.

Sherbondy, drawing from her experiences of raising three sons, will please mothers with "Vanishing Sarah" and "Empty Nest." But with stories about an Indian couple, a Jewish family and a tsunami survivor, it is clear that Sherbondy can see the world through a broad range of perspectives. Her ability to convey universal themes in five pages or less will win over just about anyone.