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California Transit: Stories and a Novella
Diane Lefer

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miscink, May 1, 2007

Who knows these women? At first glance, the women in Diane Lefer's short fiction collection, California Transit, aren't at all the kind of people we meet in our day-to-day comings and goings. But then again, there is something familiar about them. Aren't they the women on the outskirts of our purposeful paths, who sometimes get in our way? Or maybe it's something else. Well, whoever they are, one thing's clear: they don't particularly know themselves. As much as they'd like us to believe that they do.

This is the unconscious tie that binds a group of matter-of-fact characters and the glimpses the writer gives us into the extraordinary directions their seemingly ordinary lives have taken. It's also what makes this far-reaching material feel very close to home. So while the map of California Transit covers a sweeping territory--race relations, immigration reform, domestic abuse, human rights, animal rights and the religious right--it all comes back to: Yeah. Any of these women could be any of us.

The collection is full of stories which highlight the writer's sometimes shocking, off-handedly intentional voice, her uncanny ability to create the unexpected "we," and humor that sneaks up on you sideways--coming out of the skewed truths her characters hold self-evident. But California Transit's centerpiece is a pretty stunning novella, "At the Site Where Vision Is Most Perfect." With intelligence, wit and compassion, this piece forces us to feel the true absurdity of the tragedy shared by a mother, father, and in particular their 15-year-old son. What's more absurd is that it's a tragedy that's shared by all of us in America today, whether we know it or not.

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