In her debut novel published last year, author Vauhini Vara [wah-HEE-nee VAHR-uh] gave us a complicated family saga that also explored issues of technology, climate change and colonialism. That novel, “The Immortal King Rao,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction.
Vara is back with one of the most anticipated books of the year. Only this time, it’s short stories. “This Is Salvaged” is a collection of short fiction united by a singular question: In a world defined by estrangement, where do we find communion?
This wide-ranging collection wanders from “The Irates,” about a pair of grieving teenagers who audition for work at a Seattle phone sex hotline, to “Unknown Unknowns,” a five-paragraph nugget that explores a mother-son relationship. Ten stories in all, they are clever and poignant and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. In “I, Buffalo,” a high-achieving woman has fallen from grace, losing her job after a scandal involving drugs and sexual impropriety. When she wakes up at home after a confusing day, she remembers she threw up somewhere in the house, but she can’t remember where. Then her sister and niece stop by for a visit.
In “You Are Not Alone,” a girl celebrating her eighth birthday travels to the Orlando airport to meet her father’s new wife, whom she identifies only as “the stranger.” In the title story, a lovelorn experimental artist takes on his most ambitious project, constructing a replica of Noah’s Ark with the help of some men from a nearby homeless shelter. The ending of this story, alone, is worth the price of this whole collection.
“This Is Salvaged” flows beautifully from one story to the next. Vara’s exquisite writing gives you lots to think about — and to love.
