ESQUIRE BALL

Eclectic short stories reveal the complicated life of a lawyer working at a big firm in the Midwest.

In these 13 tales, murky mythologies mix with the letter of the law in an America maturing its “greed is good” ethos such that an ambitious young woman must face the true cost of every billable hour. The protagonist of “Salad Days” learns point blank that you have to be mean to be a good lawyer. This comes to fruition a few stories later in “That Superb Cadaver” when the lawyer at its center, under the direction of her mentor—who specializes in “the unpleasant but necessary art of collections”—takes the $35 an elderly Hungarian immigrant had brought to court for bus fare and groceries to put toward the $10,000 debt he’s incurred while disabled by an accident at work. Some stories like these are grounded in realism, while others, such as the title story and the book’s finale, “Legend,” delve into the supernatural, transforming Toledo, Ohio, and its surroundings—an area once known as the Great Black Swamp—into someplace mysterious. The very first line in the book, from the story “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree,” displays the author’s talent: “Don’t call me a thief. I am a collector.” A former corporate lawyer and litigator, the author demonstrates assured craft, vivid imagination, and a strong point of view that comes from experience. The stories “The Esquire Ball,” “Mack the Knife,” and “Devil’s Hole Road” stand out; “Drive” reads as a master class in economy and sleight of hand. While many of the endings feel unsatisfying, yielding vignettes rather than fully fleshed-out narratives, taken together they create a bold mosaic.

A collection as enigmatic as it is precise.