The stories in Merrill Feitell鈥檚 award-winning collection, Here Beneath Low-Flying Planes, examine the fleeting and unexpected moments of human connection, reminding us of the indelible impact we have on one another no matter how insignificant or anonymous we might feel under our huge, collective sky.
Feitell鈥檚 characters deal with shifting dynamics in relationships鈥攚hether they be best friends, lovers, family, or even strangers鈥攖hat consistently leave them torn between two places or commitments. In the title story, Janie has undergone a painful childbirth experience and her group of friends must pioneer new dynamics while she wonders how to bring her old self back. In 鈥淏ike New York!鈥 amid thirty thousand cyclists, a man on the brink of marriage meets a young girl who, in a tiny Brooklyn bakery, affirms both who he has been and who he is going to be. On this short detour from normal life he comes to understand 鈥渢he funny thing about finding your way in the world. There was a place laid out for you . . . and even as you stepped into it, happy for the chance to rest, you wondered how you ever ended up there.鈥
Funny, big-hearted, and deft, Here Beneath Low-Flying Planes navigates the reader through the life that happens when you鈥檙e planning other things. It is a collection of experiences, roads not taken, and the intense and unforeseen sparks of connection we hope for.
鈥淩ueful, bittersweet, funny, written with tenderness and bite, Merrill Feitell鈥檚 stories, like so many classic short stories, are made from the plain and painful stuff of this world, and haunted by the possibility, and the impossibility, of a better one.鈥濃擬ichael Chabon
鈥淭his award-winning display is a saucy, vibrant collection, both timely and timeless. These stories never disappoint鈥攖hey are funny, unpredictable, skillfully honed, and very moving. Merrill Feitell loves her characters even if they don鈥檛 love themselves, and that makes for a rich, impressive debut.鈥濃擜ntonya Nelson, author of Female Trouble
鈥淢errill Feitell鈥檚 stories are keenly observant: they show us the almost invisible gestures people engage in at those moments when their emotions are about to seize up. She writes beautifully and unsentimentally about the kindness strangers can sometimes, and unexpectedly, show each other. This is a fine and wonderful collection.鈥濃擟harles Baxter
鈥淢errill Feitell鈥檚 charming stories nicely balance the longings of the single life with its triumphs. Her characters are a delight, and the pages resonate with humor, generosity, love, loss, and that elusive sense of the world truly spinning beneath our feet.鈥濃擜ndrea Barrett, author of Ship Fever and Servants of the Map
