Paradise Road

Kirk Nesset’s collection of short stories, Paradise Road, primarily features rural characters as they struggle to find meaning in love. Nesset's characters are often the victims of love – broken by it, or otherwise embittered toward it – and the plots revolve around the characters in their sometimes ironic, sometimes absurd, often relatable attempts to come out on top. Common themes in the stories include betrayal and abandonment, get rich quick schemes and their aftermath, and a lack of clear perspective.

The longest story of the collection, the opening story, “The Prince of Perch Fishing,” is about two long-time fishing buddies who are out on the river when they are both seduced by a spontaneous and stunningly gorgeous widow, who flirts with both of them unabashedly. In some ways, the story is a typical love triangle, as both men duke it out, silently, over the attractions of the woman in question. However, an added level of intrigue is added when Nesset reveals that the men are also in business together; they have grown and are preparing to sell a high volume of incredibly potent marijuana. The men cultivated the crop together, planning to make a huge amount of cash to get their lives in order – the only catch is that the men have to work together in order to sell the stash. The narrator of the story is one of the men, whose potential to get both his cut of the weed and his try at the widow both seem increasingly slim as the story goes on. The story ends with the narrator reflecting on this turn of fate, and the way that sex has interfered once again with a life of stability and joy.

In “Be With Somebody,” Nesset takes a stab at a representation of a gay relationship between two men, the narrator David and his lover, Perry. David and Perry have a tumultuous relationship. One night, when David believes that Perry is out at a local nightclub looking for someone to hookup with, David tracks him down. David gets a little drunk and shows up at Club Mecca, where he goes looking for Perry. However, David is distracted by the girl checking IDs outside. As it turns out, Gwen, the fake bouncer, is collecting a non-existent cover charge from anyone willing to pay it, to make a quick buck. David eventually finds Perry flirting with some guy who looks exactly as David expected he would. Instead of confronting his partner, David decides to chat with Gwen, who ends up spending the evening at David and Perry's apartment. When Perry arrives later, Gwen is wearing her underwear and a t-shirt. Perry is instantly suspicious, despite there being no romantic connection between David and Gwen. The story ends after Gwen goes home. David wonders why he stays with Perry, convincing himself that his partner would, or could, someday, change.



In the title story, “Paradise Road,” the Don finds himself hung up on his wife, who recently left him to fend for himself. Don lives on Paradise Road. One night, on a typical evening of moseying up and down the road to kill time and record mopey take-me-back tape-recorded letters to his wife, Don finds a girl. The girl is half-naked and horrifically skinny. Don picks her up, and she tells him she was staying in a nearby Buddhist monastery but was kicked out for bad behavior. Don takes her in and lets her stay at his home, all the while bragging in tape-recorded letters he never intends to send to his wife about how he hasn't slept with her yet, despite her obvious advances. It is clear to readers, though not to Don, that this girl is a symbol of Don's unhealthy attachment to his wife, though he doesn't realize it. Finally, after his ex-wife's horse gives birth to a colt and the girl does something to greatly anger Don, Don does something horrible: he calls the police. Unsure what to say, he finally comes to himself for a moment when the dispatcher asks, “Are you there?”

Kirk Nesset has written two collections of short stories, Paradise Road and Mr. Agreeable, a book of poems, and a book of translations. He has also authored a non-fiction study of the work of Raymond Carver, who deeply inspires his work. His poetry and short stories have appeared in many critically acclaimed literary journals. He has taught at Whittier College, Allegheny College, and the University of California. Paradise Road was the winner of the 2007 Drue Heinz Literature Prize.