Lincoln Michel seems determined to cut out his own corner of the literary world with his debut short story collection Upright Beasts, with “cut” being the operative word here. Michel’s stories are filled with hungry, ravenous animals, Lord of the Flies-level children, aspiring suiciders, violent teenagers, aliens that disgustingly alter the human form, and shambling zombie babies that will gladly take a chunk off your shoulder if you’re not careful. Almost every story deals with death or its inevitable approach, and certainly all ponder the line we walk every day between civilized human and letting our darker instincts take hold. The world of Upright Beasts is a strange and terrifying one, but the trip is altogether enjoyable, even if some stories clearly have more staying power than others.
Upright Beasts is divided into four beastly sections, each with its own vaguely defined logic for the stories contained therein: there’s “Upright Beasts,” which deals with heightened and distorted views of our world taken to frightening extremes, such as the suburban man who turns his suburb into a militarized zone to maintain the peace in his neighborhood. Next is “North American Mammals,” which deals with more “realistic” scenarios, but still with a cynical eye towards humanity that runs through the rest of the book. Then there’s “Familiar Creatures,” where Michel veers back into “genre” territory. These stories seem to share a common thread of displacement, with people attempting to come to terms with new surroundings and environments. Finally is the book’s briefest section, “Megafauna.” Only three stories are contained therein, but all deal with extraordinary outside forces: be they people or space aliens.
However, the title of the book itself is entirely apt for every story that is in this collection. Every story, in some way or another, delves deeply into the horrific and callus ways that people that can treat each other. For instance, while the highlight “Lawn Dad” may seem an almost fairy tale-like story of a father who slowly but surely becomes one with his lawn (in the most literal way possible), it’s clear that it also is a commentary on the way parents can slowly fade out of the lives of their children. What’s incredibly impressive is just how thematically cohesive this collection is. Throughout twenty-five stories, Michel takes aim at the human condition sharply and with an eye for our human failings. This may just be a long-winded way of saying that these stories work well as a collection, but as many short story collections seem sort of tossed together with whatever an author has laying around, this seems noteworthy.
However, one could argue that this also makes this book something of an exhausting read. There’s so much death and darkness that it almost threatens to swallow this collection whole, but Michel writes lightly enough and with such a sharp sense of wit that it’s entirely possible to finish this collection in one fell swoop. While it’s possible to recoil in disgust at the thought of a young boy being swallowed and living in the bellies of various animals throughout his lifetime, it’s hard to still not laugh out loud at the sheer ridiculousness of it. Other stories don’t have as light a touch, admittedly. When a young student is accidentally hanged as part of a school project, the weaker-willed reader might have the urge to put the book down, and that’s fair. However, Michel should be commended for his bold, take-no-prisoners approach.
As bold as his vision is, it should be noted that Michel doesn’t always hit the high notes he intends to. In a book of twenty-five stories, some are bound to be more noteworthy than others, but it’s to his credit that each and every one holds some sort of image or moment that still resonates after the book is closed. For instance, while “The Soldier” might seem a mere toss-off, the image of a mistreated dog howling angrily at the moon is still a powerful metaphor for a life that is seemingly suited for nothing but misery. Even stories that at first seem pointless or forgettable take on a life of their own when viewed from the lens of the book’s larger framework. It’s this dedication to his overall message that elevates even Michel’s weaker stories in this collection, making the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
Thankfully, however, Michel has far more hits than misses in this debut collection. One highlight is from the more literary section of this book, “North American Mammals,” which echoes strongly of Raymond Carver’s short story “So Much Water So Close to Home.” In it, the narrator’s husband finds a women’s dead body on their farm, and then what unfolds is something shocking, but largely understated. Michel takes what could be a “shock for shock’s sake” story and injects it with enough genuine human emotion and sense of loss that it becomes beautiful in the process. When the ending comes, the narrator’s actions seem outrageous, but wholly justified.
However, the best story comes in the form of the second to last entry “Dark Air,” an unconventional alien abduction tale. Not surprisingly, it deals with death, Cronenberg-esque body horror, possible infidelity, and a creepy hillbilly/hippie family. While it would be a disservice to any potential reader to disclose much else, suffice it to say that Michel handles the ensuing action with equal parts humor, surprising poignancy, and plenty of stomach churning images. What’s perhaps most striking is just how uplifting the story turns out to be by its end, as we see the sun peeking through the clouds after the horror that preceded it. It seems that, for as dark as Michel’s dawns can be, he still carries some hope for humanity. But then the last story ends on a depressing downbeat, so maybe Michel just wanted to bring us up to push us back down.
Whether you view Upright Beasts as an unforgivingly dark and cynical look at human nature or a dark but optimistic take on our baser urges will color how the collection as a whole is viewed. Whatever interpretation is chosen, one thing is clear: Upright Beasts heralds a fresh, uncompromising voice in literature.
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