I was a frequent peruser of the Daily Cal , the school newspaper, and The Heuristic Squelch, the campus humor magazine, during my first two years in college. Squelch was often too raunchy and perverted for my tastes, but I loved their fake news round-ups and the letters from the editor. One particular letter from the editor that stands out in my mind is the one addressed to the freshman in fall 2000: "College," the editor opined, "is like a hypercolor t-shirt. It starts out with a brilliant pink burst of excitement, before slowly fading away to a blur of resentment and apathy." The editor also instructed the freshmen, "If you're one of those students who asks questions in lecture every day, just remember, there's a special circle in hell for you people."
Richard Grayson's recent collection of short stories reminds me of The Heuristic Squelch, both in its smart humor and its ability to induce belly-aching laughs. Composed alternately of semi-autobiographical pieces and humorous shorts, Grayson weaves a picture of Brooklyn (and New York) that is rarely seen in New York literature nowadays.
A native of Canarsie himself, Grayson's characters inhabit the outlying middle-class neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens: Flatbush, the Rockaways, Bensonhurst, Brighton Beach, Canarsie, and the like. His characters are wonderfully diverse, much like the city itself, ethnic, immigrants, LGBT--you'll not find a single straight upper-class WASP in the book (not that there's anything wrong with that). The strengths of this book, I felt, lay in its humorous shorts.
A particular one that stands out in my mind is "Diary of a Brooklyn Cyclones Hot Dog," a tale of a lesbian Uzbekistani teen whose job is to dress up as Nathan's Relish Hot Dog. During each game, there is a race between Ketchup, Mustard, and Relish, and, much like the Trix Rabbit who never gets to eat Trix, Relish is never allowed to finish first in the race. However, like the Trix Rabbit, Relish starts out every race absolutely determined not to finish last, but some unfortunate incident befalls her each time.
The semi-autobiographical short stories, while well-written, were a bit too confessional for my tastes; however, they are still interesting reads. Grayson's handling of his characters' sexuality is deft and never overbearing. Highly recommended.
