Short Story Monday – “A Tiny History” and “Dinosaurs” by Tom Franklin

I read two more stories from Poachers this week.


A Tiny History and Dinosaurs by Tom Franklin
Part of the Collection Poachers
Published: 1999

A Tiny History revisits characters from an earlier story in the collection. The troubled marriage of the narrator of “Triathlon” is again the focus. Over an evening of cards two men compare their marriages and share more than they probably should. When the conversation reveals this to their wives, it gets even more complicated.

Dinosaurs features a man whose job is to detect soil contamination from underground tanks. His latest job finds him at a nearly unused gas station that has a stuffed rhinoceros out in the yard as an attraction. His interaction with the gas station owner is interspersed with conversations with his father. He can’t change either situation but he finds a way that gives him the opportunity to give in to one kind of destruction while trying to dull the effects of another kind.

As with many of the stories by Franklin they are much more about setting the scene and atmosphere than they are about telling the entire story. Franklin has a way of leaving just the right parts unsaid which allows you to complete the story on your own within the scene he has so cleverly and thoroughly set in your mind.



Short Story Mondays is hosted by John at The Book Mine Set.