Drivers, by Nathan Leslie. Maplewood: Hamilton Stone Editions, 2005. $14.95, Hardcover. ISBN 0-9714873-5-9.

In his third short story collection, Leslie has collected twenty-three short stories centered around the theme of cars, driving and drivers. The stories alternate between flash fiction and longer pieces, making it very readable.

The collection opens with a story of a dying father's hatred of cars, which leads him to force his son to burn a rare, vintage Duryea. This is a man who hates cars, believes they are a "blight on the land." The son resists, but the old man is dying of bone cancer. The son is put into the position of destroying a rare car, a thing of beauty. The car, like the father, must die. Finally, the son is left with nothing but a model car and his regret. It is a haunting story of loss and difficult living as are many of these stories.

These characters' lives center on cars, whether it be an old car passed down from a father to son, or two lives crashing together. We move through stories of racing enthusiasts and mechanics, and a runaway who breaks into cars to revenge the deaths of her family. In "Hit and Run," Leslie follows a driver's education teacher whose classes are full of traffic law violators. By the title, you can guess a major event of the story. What is interesting is the surprising characters and the way the story is structured, doubling back on itself to reveal nuances of characterization through multiple viewpoints. These people become not simply victims and villians, they are fully developed. Many of these stories surprise us with unfamiliar characters, surprising turns and interesting takes on the subject matter.

Leslie shows us incredible insight into his characters. They're not just automatons moving in a straight line from plot point to plot point; they are thinking, feeling people, dealing with the spiritual crisis we all suffer through. They doubt themselves, they see wonder in the world. Leslie has the soul of a philosopher, the diction of a poet. When I started the collection, I have to admit that I wondered how he was going to pull it off. Twenty three stories about cars, driving, drivers; but he manages to keep them interesting and varied making an enjoyable collection well worth reading.

-CL Bledsoe