Python’s Kiss
By Louise Erdrich
HarperCollins
Seven corporations control the afterlife in a dystopian world. A server at KFC has her life changed by a regular who dresses like the Colonel. A girl finds a stone as a child that seems tied to her fate. These are the pockets of the universe explored in Louise Erdrich’s newest short story collection, “Python’s Kiss.”
Erdrich, known for Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Night Watchman,” is also an exceptional short story writer. The stories in “Python’s Kiss” are captivating with thought-provoking premises, but Erdrich’s strength is in the execution.
The skills that make one a good novelist don’t necessarily translate to short stories in the way that award0winning movie directors aren’t necessarily good TikTokers. There’s a specific skill in packaging short form content in a way that pulls the audiences into the world and spits them out feeling like they’ve gone somewhere. Too much set up and you’ve lost them, not enough and people complain that they never really got into it. “Python’s Kiss” is a masterclass on short story writing. Erdrich displays an impressive range across the short stories.
Some of the stories in the collection feel grounded in reality, like “Big Cat,” about a man who is married, divorced and remarried to a woman whose whole family snores incessantly. No, the snoring did not cause the divorce … or the remarriage, though their kid would tell you differently. Other stories are more speculative with touches of magical realism or, in the case of one about people uploading their consciousnesses into competing afterlives, straight-up science fiction.
The collection shines because the stories stay with you long after you finish reading. In “Wedding Dresses” an older aunt tells her niece the stories of her relationships through the wedding dresses that have been ruined by a burst pipe. This could be read as a ploy that provides a convenient conceit and easy signposting for the stories, but it’s a meaningful one. It’s not just about giving the protagonist an excuse to tell the stories; the real story is in what she keeps to herself. The extent of the ways men have disappointed her. The fact that she loved Roberta, married Roberta in a beautiful satin dress with beaded sea creatures, and even became fond of her son, JJ. And despite this, how Roberta had not been able to tell her family.
Erdrich spins tales that have you falling for her characters or at least rooting for them. “Python’s Kiss” shows us that when it comes to short stories, she’s still got it.
