Oh!: Twenty-Seven Stories

by Leon Rooke

In his first short story collection in five years, Leon Rooke brings together an extraordinary array of documents from diverse hot spots around the world. In an attempt to answer the question What is art?, the stories explore Italian "art," Mexican "art," Gypsy "art," Native "art," and political "art."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550961780
• ISBN13: 9781550961782
• Release Date: November 1997
• Publisher: Exile Editions
• Length: 272 Pages

Customer Reviews

Too clever

Most of the stories are set in a dystopia, an unpleasant never-never or fantasy land, and contain elements of the supernatural. I was reminded of Barthelme and the South American magic realists. Several stories involved people embarking on journeys that end disastrously, reminding me of Bowles. Two are set in Vicenza in Italy.The final novella, the one I liked best,is more realistic and is set in suburban Toronto. Even in that one "The Guacamole Game" there is an attempt to puzzle the reader. Rooke seems to like to keep his readers bewildered and guessing. He has a wonderful sense of humor and I like his work best when this shows though and when he keeps his feet on the ground (if that's not a mixed metaphor).