ALTERNATIVE FACTS

Greenberg’s short-story collection invites readers to reconsider their perspectives on seemingly familiar topics, including politics and interpersonal relationships.

This author shows an interest in experimental storytelling from the first, titular work: which details a politically charged conflict over the course of a nearly 12-page-long sentence that begins, “Maybe the two silver-haired, tuxedo-clad men were not really about to fight, Kellyanne thought….” Other tales play with structure, too: “Black Box” details the life of an unconventional character as he investigates his own goals and relationship along with what it means to be human. This story begins with a list of definitions that serves a dual purpose, first preparing the reader for a potentially unfamiliar environment, and setting a tone of clinical detachment. In “Tonight Show,” the author presents a speculative version of President George W. Bush’s childhood, bookended by an interview on an evening talk show; the story effectively navigates how public and private opinions intersect. These fictionalizations investigate their real-world counterparts with a surprising amount of humanity and complexity, and the prose reveals the author’s attention to craft. One striking example is in “The Author and The Heiress,” in which Greenberg writes of a character handling books: “She picked up a few, then tossed them on the floor one by one like she was a child again, trying on her mother’s perfumes in front of the ar­moire, humming her own invented melodies in the cav­ernous silence. Jasmine or lavender, orange blossom or coconut. And who would she be today?”

A bold and often eerie set of tales that skillfully explore life’s what-if complexities.