I was really hoping to like A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes and Other Stories. I’ve been having pretty good luck with short story collections, and this new collection by Nancy J. Allen seemed pretty intriguing. The description on the back of the book had me eager to dive into each story.
Unfortunately, I ended up DNF’ing A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes about halfway through the book.
What’s A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes about?
To be honest…I’m not 100% sure what the stories in A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes are about. Most of them take place in the American Southwest, and in the 1960s. Like in Roswell, New Mexico, and parts of Texas that seem rather underpopulated.
All the stories seem to be interconnected, with characters in early stories sometimes appearing in later stories. Which is kinda cool.
And, all the stories are pretty dark. They involve families and government jobs and space and hard work and dark pasts. While I think the stories are supposed to have a little bit of myth and mysticism mixed in, I didn’t really find that jumping out at me (disapppointingly).
While the book description highlights some pretty great-sounding stories, I didn’t come across any of them in the first half of the book that I read, except for one. I figured that the “good” stories must be in the second half, so I did plan to go back and give reading A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes one more try.
But I never did. Each time I thought of the book, I had to force myself to it. And I just don’t want to do that. So, it went onto the DNF pile.
Why I DNF’d A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes
As I’ve mentioned before, I like short stories that have a clear beginning, middle, and end, and that wrap up sensibly at the end, like in The Continental Divide.
The stories in Allen’s collection don’t do that. Most of them left me wondering what just happened and what the point of the story was. Not my favorite. I also found the cadence of the writing a bit difficult to follow at times, though the overall quality of Allen’s writing is very good.
This book definitely has its target audience, but I’m pretty sure it’s not me.
Should you read A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes and Other Stories?
If you’re a regular reader of short stories, and if you’re a fan of literary fiction, please give A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes and Other Stories a shot. There is a very big chance you’ll like Allen’s short stories better than I did.
Although I received a complimentary advance copy of A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes from Julia Publicity, all opinions expressed in this review are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this review or for any other promotion/publicity I’ve done related to this book.
