I Sailed with Magellan: Stories Paperback – October 1, 2004

I will start with the conclusion: READ THIS BOOK. It is exhilarating and poignant, funny and wise. It consists of eleven interlaced stories about Perry Katzek, the son of an immigrant from Poland, growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. The Chicago setting, the kaleidoscopic episodes, the sweaty grittiness of urban, immigrant life, and the rather picaresque nature of the narrative all remind me of Saul Bellow's "The Adventures of Augie March", though, to my mind, I SAILED WITH MAGELLAN turns out to be an even better book.No doubt much of it is based on the personal experiences of author Stuart Dybek, who was born in 1942 and grew up in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. Indeed, much of the book may well be personal memoir draped with but the thinnest of fictional garb. Still, it reads more like a novel (or a collection of inter-related stories) than like a memoir.Those who are from Chicago and are now between the ages of 55 and 75 might treasure the book just a tad more than the rest of us, inasmuch as it features such places as Twelfth Street Beach, Sportsman's Park, the Rocks, Meigs Field, Douglas Park, the outdoor market on Maxwell Street, the Sanitary Canal, and the Baha'i Temple. (I certainly would treasure any novel half as good about Philadelphia - my hometown - during the same years.) But one need not be from Chicago to find the book special. What it has to say about memory, childhood and youth, and the human condition should speak to most, and especially to males who grew up in an urban, working-class setting.The book abounds with lovable characters and with sparkling anecdotes. Among the former are Perry's father (whom he and his brother call "Sir" because one night while watching "Leave It to Beaver" he had said how nice it was that Wally and Beaver called their father "Sir"), his uncle Lefty who played the sax and the horses, his best friend Stosh, and his erstwhile girlfriend Laurel Elaine Levanto who left Perry stranded in the Fire Truck Graveyard after the high school prom. Among the anecdotes is this one about Denny "the Fish" Mihala: when the fourth-grade teacher Sister Philomena asked the class, "If birds come in flocks, and fish in schools, what other kinds of groupings can you name?", Denny eagerly answered, "A dozen donuts!"The motif that struck home with me the most had to do with memory and nostalgia. Here is one such excerpt: "Who knows why certain humble objects - a bike, a sweater, a sled - are salvaged by memory or dream to become emblems of childhood? Childhood, an alternative universe expanding into forgetfulness, where memory rather than matter is the stuff of creation."I SAILED WITH MAGELLAN is also noteworthy for its writing and craftsmanship. The stories are skillfully interwoven, and there are moments when Dybek's writing is brilliant, such as when he refers to a character gazing up at the nighttime sky, "aware that he was just another speck adrift in stardust on the absolute zero breath of God."I SAILED WITH MAGELLAN (the title comes from a song Perry's brother Mick sang when they were kids) was published in 2004, which to my way of thinking still makes it contemporary fiction. I don't read a lot of contemporary fiction. Maybe I should make a point of reading more, because I SAILED WITH MAGELLAN is first-rate literature. It easily is one of the ten best books I read in 2012.

Reading Stuart Dybek's writing is like being lulled along by an improvised vocalization. It dips and weaves and soars and hums, and at the end you're not really sure what to make of all you have experienced, but you know you are better off for it and that you do not witness such beauty often. This is art of the highest caliber.Each story in this collection is a work of art. They are linked more by feeling and emotion and the musical quality of language than by themes or plot or even character."Breasts" is often criticized as being out of place in the collection, but for me it is the anchor of the entire piece. Consisting of two diverging storylines, one involving a former Mexican Wrestler, the other a mafia hitman. It is the impossibility of each storyline's compatibility with the other that holds them together. Like the heart breaking lullaby of a saxophone rising from an El platform in the dead of night (an image taken from one of the passages in the middle of the story . . . some of the most graceful writing I've ever read.)Then there is "Blue Boy," a story with such depth and compassion for its characters that you are moved enough to accept the direct revelation of the narrator at the end."Orchids" is the ultimate story of teenagehood. All the angst, frustration, adventure, romance, and heartbreak of adolescence, particularly an adolescence growing up poor, is captured in these meandering pages. This is my favorite story in the collection. I cannot explain why."We Didn't," taught in every reputable university creative writing class, is very near to being a perfect short story, and also one with the clearest independent themes and plot in the collection.And so on.This is that rare kind of book that only comes around once in a decade (think _Angela's Ashes_ or _The Things They Carried_). The book might not change your life or the way you look at the world, but it will remind you why we read stories and why language is so precious.

I take no credit for discovering this gem. Zoo friend Mike Peterson's review will likely inspire others as it did for me."I Sailed with Magellan" is a fun, satisfying, often poignant and sometimes hilarious depiction of a lower middle class largely Polish immigrant community in Chicago in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The stories, mix of cultures and voices come across as authentic, engaging and relatable. While I'm just a bit younger than this era I found the family vignettes, angst and conflicts of growing up and the shared friendships and aspirations all rang true.There is one particularly hysterical story about a high school marching band playing while being lead into what is clearly the wrong neighborhood: Warning not to read that in a library. The Prom date is very funny and the "we didn't do it" not love scene is simply brilliant. Collectively it all portrays Perry Katzik's life and neighborhood which I am assuming is highly autobiographical.I'd give it 5 stars if the stories came together a bit more. Others may not see that as a weakness. I liked the writing. There are nice jumps in time that work, there are a few overly boyish dialogues that I could have done without but that are nonetheless true to life. I was particularly impressed by Stuart Dybek's story of a talented young female writer where he needs to write in her voice and show her talent while still speaking from Perry's perspective and voice. It worked for me. There was good contrast that left me wondering how do you do that?Hope others enjoy it!