Potpourri

Potpourri is a collection of thirteen of Rick Lawton's stories. In his opening, "Prelude", the author opines about the difficulties in remembering what exactly happened and what exactly he wrote at a particular time and concludes that it doesn't matter because we inevitably shape and re-shape the past, present, and even the future in our imagination. The author's stories are a rediscovery of what he was imagining at a certain time and place in his life. Thematically, the stories are about personal identity, what it means to reinvent oneself, and finding a place of refuge. "Name Game" is about a perplexed G.I. in Germany during the Viet Nam War worried about who he will be when he comes home; "Trash Pad" shows the impulse to change in a man whose apartment has become too public; "The Rug" shows what happens to a man in middle age whose hair starts falling; "The DVD" shows how a technical innovation can highlight the problem of commitment in a couple in New York City. The stories are humorous and ironic and also contain a poignancy which makes the characters real. The collection finishes with four shorter stories set in San Francisco and the last story, "Home", takes place in a botanical garden.