On Rainy Lake and Other Stories

by Jim Bates

Rating: *****

Bates’s On Rainy Lake is a collection of eleven short stories mainly set in and around the Hennepin County and Orchard Lake areas of Minnesota.

They are broadly contemporary, although characters unburden themselves and reveal historical reasons for their current motivations or situations through flashbacks, memories, and conversations, both internal and with others.

Nine tales are written from first-person perspectives, and all main protagonists are male, with some intriguingly analogous subjects including alcoholism, absent fathers, stale marriages, and stagnant lives.

However, there is no complacency or over-similarity in Bates’s characters or narratives. He uses them in unexpected ways and views their problems from surprisingly different angles, always glossed with self-deprecating humor and perceptive observation.

Although comparable, On Rainy Lake is also quite different from The Stargazer*, Bates’s previous short fiction collection. Stories are still character-driven, but there is a deeper emotional complexity and self-reflection in those within On Rainy Lake, which, on occasion, palpably sting with the bitter tang of regret or guilt, or both.  

In several of the tales, the weight of human experience is brought to bear and confronted in a single, defining moment or meeting where a bond is formed, not always positively. Bates weaves weighty themes through these events with dexterity and ease, in addition to the character’s backstory or introspection.

The opener, Moonshine, was my favorite. A skillfully wrought and nicely enticing tale with an intense appeal to visualization. Voiced with earnest authenticity by Ron, an immensely likable, self-aware chap who navigates life-changing incidents with warm, folksy acceptance but also an eye to the main chance.

The Fruitaholic begins as a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek, metaphorical exploration of addiction. However, the initial levity evolves into a searingly uncomfortable narrative. It's excruciatingly good reading, balanced with a heavy dose of black humor.

Too Quick to Judge starts simply, but the reader is soon made aware that, sub-textually, there is a welter of emotional baggage within fifty-three-year-old Larry, which a chance encounter with laidback, otherworldly Josh causes him to unravel, literally and figuratively.  The serendipitous power of incidental meetings is also central to The Fight, and the nuanced importance of longer-term male friendship is examined with poignancy in What Gene Told Me, a clever and amusing tale with a kick of a twist.

Why I Don’t Run Away Anymore is an unnerving piece, although the setting and familial background are familiar, the crux of the narrative is unlike any other in the book. Voiced by twelve-year-old, Quinn, it’s horribly credible, loaded with dramatic irony and foreshadowing.

Rodent is another strong offering, dialogue-rich and driven by the compelling Johnny, as seen through the eyes of his sister’s boyfriend, Kyle, a technique Bates also employs in Moonshine. Johnny is charismatic, but possibly unreliable, and Bates toys nicely with his unpredictability.

The Lucie Line Trail is a touch obvious. Yet, Bates takes such consideration in depicting Mike and his circumstances, not to mention the rural topography, that the story becomes heartwarmingly satisfying. It’s one of two written in the third person, the other being The Cribbage Game, an angry, unsettling, and involving piece that prompts the reader to ponder the dilemma presented to the main character, Tim.

Arnold and Tillie was personally the weakest, although a sharply touching contemplation on someone trying to find usefulness and purpose in a world that has long left them behind, it lacked energy, which, nonetheless, complemented the subject matter.

The concluding, titular story, On Rainy Lake, is a tour de force.  A blistering portrait of a toxic, defunct marriage and the effect a ferocious storm has upon the warring spouses. Part-metaphorical, it’s an emotionally layered, action-packed story that keeps the reader guessing.

On Rainy Lake and Other Stories is a rich and fulfilling collection that delves deep into the human condition, voiced by distinctive characters and set against a beautifully rendered rural landscape.

*Click here for my review of The Stargazer and Other Stories. 

Buy from:

Amazon UK | Amazon US