Review of "Three Avenues of Escape," a short story by Elmore Hammes



Summary:
A short story about a young man's utilization of several items left to him by his older brother as a means to escape his father's bigotry.

Review:
This story was quite good and surprisingly deep.  Though it is the story of an abusive home, this is a tale of resiliency rather than pity.  I liked that.  I liked that it didn't try and wring sobs out of me.  In many ways, it made the protagonist that much more real.

Hammes appears to be quite adept at spartan description.  Nothing is delved into about the scenery and yet you can feel like you're sitting in the room watching Jeff figure out ways to evade his father.  The subtle shift in Jeff's character at the end is just so simple and yet at the same time speaks volumes for both his present and future circumstances.

I would definitely recommend giving "Three Avenues of Escape" a shot even if you feel like the subject material might not be of interest.  A story well told is always worth reading.

4/5 stars
Reviewed by Alain Gomez

Buy this short story on Amazon or on B&N.

Comments

  1. Elmore HammesDecember 13, 2011 at 7:13 AM

    Thanks for the review. For your (and your followers) information, I have made this short story free through Smashwords.com and its distribution partners (B&N, Apple, Sony and others). Once Amazon price matches, it should be free there as well, but Kindle users can get a Kindle version through Smashwords if they want a free one right now.
    I appreciate your taking the time to read the story.
    Elmore Hammes

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alain GomezDecember 13, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    Thanks for the update!

    ReplyDelete

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