The Varieties of Romantic Experience: Stories - Hardcover

The title of Robert Cohen's collection, The Varieties of Romantic Experience, should have included the word anxiety, because it is this fretful, uncertain, and mildly deranging condition that most recurs in these 10 short stories. The brilliant title story, a first-person monologue delivered by a psychology professor in the bleating throes of a midlife crisis, is as much about anxiety as about hopeless love. First-person narrative and the depiction of emotional duress seem to be Cohen's special talent. In "Adult Education," the unnamed narrator tries to convince his lover that he is not ready for the baby she carries: "You are so right that this is not whims [sic]. This is a solid object with some fluids in it, one that will eventually become more and more solid despite having more and more fluids in it, and pretty soon according to what I have heard from other people all these solids and fluids are going to drive us right out of this life of ours that's been going on so well without them." The best story in the book may be "Oscillations," first published in The Paris Review, about the development of a speech impairment, and the consolations of science and reflection offered by a long sojourn in a behavioral research institute. Although abrupt at times, tacking unexpectedly, Cohen's agile prose is the perfect vehicle for his quirky, order-seeking vision. This is a playful, distinguished collection. --Regina Marler

“Formidable. . . . Cohen balances . . . robust black comedy with moments of quietly profound feeling.” –The Atlantic Monthly

“With the perfect pitch of Chekhov satire . . . Cohen can extend a series of metaphors like taffy.” –The New York Times Book Review

“Captivating. . . . Memorable. . . .These stories are lean yet rich with the complexity of human experience.” –San José Mercury News

“Ruefully funny. . . . The temptation with Cohen is to go on quoting him all day.” –San Francisco Chronicle

“A blaze of silken prose . . . eager for life, bursting with emotion, alive to impressions and sensitive to the poise, the sinew and the flavor of the individual phrase.” –The Buffalo News