Where The Money Went – A Review of short stories by Kevin Canty
Look through the University Montana English Dept. faculty list, and you’ll find some of the greatest fiction writers Montana has to offer. Canty is lord and master of the short story, king of a universe in which reality is gritty and unpleasant and happy endings are sacrificed in the funeral pyres of love affairs. His style of prose in his 2009 short story collection Where the Money Went is often likened to short story legends such as Raymond Carver, but with spoonfuls of Montanan spunk and wild flair.
(Canty)
Canty’s characters are his greatest strength, often struggling with the morality of a world too young and too tempting. The title story traces the dissolving marriage of Braxten, in an approach akin to Tim O’ Brien’s “The Things They Carried.” Braxten’s life is defined by where his money has gone, as O’ Brien’s soldiers are defined by what they carried. “The rest of the money, what there was of it, went for the lawyers,” is Canty’s final line to this introductory story, where Braxten’s marriage rests boldly and indefinitely under attack. Canty boldly declares that “summer is over, folks,” and it would suit you to strap in.
Other stories are set in familiar lands to Montana natives, featuring or mentioning Missoula, Kalispell, Bigfork, Lake Seeley, and probably your hometown. In stories such as “The Boreal Forest,” a story about a man who gets lost in the Boreal Forest while looking for an ever-elusive lynx (all the while reflecting on a love affair, because what other kind of drama is there?), Montana is written in its full natural glory. But in stories such as “The Emperor of Ice Cream,” we are given the wannabe cowboys and a portrait of the great state as one giant wealthy tourist ride for the kinds of people who enjoy lakeside views and lake boats in obscure western towns.
My favorite story of the collection is “They Were Expendable,” which has little to do with Montana, but everything to do with real human beings. The protagonist deals with the death of his wife by watching cable and filling his mind with rot; when he finally finds a woman who might fill the vacancy, a woman nothing like his wife, a “big girl” who’s just as shaky about entering into any form of relationship as the protagonist is, he continues to struggle with a feeling of betrayal – towards his wife, towards her memory, and all the while fighting the fear that his acceptance of love will mean letting her disappear. “ The story is excellently stylized as a letter from the main character to his late wife, one to drag you along for a ride on the “feels” train, and though hardly anyone gets a happy ending in Canty’s stories, at least this one leaves the reader in peace.
If you like Kevin Canty, check out his other short stories and his latest novel Everything, where he writes a lot less like Raymond Carver (if that’s not your style).
This post was written by Spencer Ruchti. Spencer is janitor by night, English major by day (yeah, probably the kind you don’t like). You can follow him on Twitter @spencerruchti, where he mostly posts about comic books, pop-punk music, and James Joyce. If you’d like to contribute to the Montana Mint, email us at hello@montana-mint.com.
Want more Montana book recommendations? Check out the Montana Mint’s Best Books Ever Written About Montana.
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