Book Review: Tough Day for the Army by John Warner

Tough Day for the Army
Short Stories by John Warner
LSU Press, September 2014
ISBN-13: 978-0807158029
$22.50; 168pp.
Reviewed by Daniel Pecchenino

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John Warner, a teacher, blogger, editor, and writer of everything from regular book reviews to a well-received debut novel, is out with a collection of short stories, Tough Day for the Army, and it’s a gift to those of us who love the form. Warner establishes a clear and unique voice while also proving himself deft at moving between styles. One story, reminiscent of David Foster Wallace’s work, takes the form of a slaughterhouse inspector’s report, while another riffs on a newspaper’s corrections and retractions section. But all of the pieces in this collection grapple with the question of how to find purpose and meaning in life in the wake of huge cultural shifts, bum luck, and our own bad decisions.

Warner’s stories are often funny, but the humor isn’t the point; rather, it’s a realist’s tool for processing and persevering through tragedies. For instance, Nelson, the protagonist in “Nelson v. the Mormon Smile,” has a lot to be upset about. His dad is abusive, a failed drug test denies him his dream job, and his plan to win over the unavailable girl he loves by dosing all the baked good at a party backfires when he gets too high. Still, at the end of the night, as he lies on his balcony tripping under the stars, he’s able to find comfort in making his love laugh, not at him, but at the absurdity of where she is relative to where she’s been. Nelson asks, “Is there anything better than a beautiful girl laughing into your chest?” My only answer might be a compelling collection of short stories, and John Warner has given us one.

Daniel Pecchenino teaches in the Writing Program at the University of Southern California. His poetry and criticism have appeared in American Literature, The Los Angeles Review, Flaunt, and Turnstile, and he blogs about higher education, literature, and pop culture at The General Reader. He lives in Hollywood where he’s allegedly working on a book about F. Scott Fitzgerald, Walter Benjamin, and the Hays Motion Picture code.