A long time fan of Russo's stories, this collection is by far his best work in my humble opinion. It's refreshing he takes a breather from the small town ecosystem from his other works, delving into relationships or all sorts, along with new locations. "Voices" is extraordinary as is "Horseman" and "Intervention" but they're all really top notch. Short story development is a real skill, and Richard has proven here that he's not only proficient at it, but excels. Bravo Mr. Russo and thank you for sharing these wonderful characters, places and ideas. ( )

Overall, I really enjoyed this collection of 4 stories - on a side note- I KNOW that the views reflected by characters in fiction don't necessarily reflect the views of the AUTHOR - but I have to say, the inclusion of a few minor Asian characters in two different stories seemed to be added as "comic relief" and came off as racist. I'm not explaining this well, I just found it odd. These stories could have been written 30+ years ago, the only thing that made them more "contemporary" was the inclusion of cell phones. ( )

Trajectories is comprised of four long short stories of varying length. A quick note—if you have read the separately published “Nate in Venice”, then you have read the second story, entitled Voice in this collection. No idea why the titles changed.

I have read quite a bit of Russo’s work and to me his shorter works are often darker than his novels, which have rich vein of quiet humor even when the story lines get serious or the subject matter is more disturbing. I think I like the novels better, but everything he writes is good, just different.
We fall down the Rabbit hole in three out of four of these stories. Twice into the world of academia (Voice and Horseman) and once into the world of the Hollywood writer (Milton and Marcus). I felt like a fly on the wall in these stories, especially in Milton and Marcus since I have never even met anyone with ties to Hollywood. I found Horseman to be particularly interesting because my experience with stories about academics who find themselves in tight situations are almost always told from the male perspective. Horseman was interesting to me because it dealt with what is most likely a common existential crisis for academics and considering it from a woman’s perspective showed that some experiences can be universal and individual at the same time.

In Intervention we have a story of a struggling real estate developer who is suffering a perfect storm of financial decline, a serious health issue, and faltering confidence. In other words, an aging Everyman. My favorite story in the collection, I found the main character to be sympathetic and quietly inspirational and the supporting cast was interesting and compelling. This cast of characters would support a longer novel form very nicely.

As with many literary writers, especially the few that are of this caliber, I feel that at least for me a first read is just an introduction to the basic plot and characters (to use a Hemingway analogy--the top 10% of the iceberg) and subsequent readings of each of these stories will provide further rewards as deeper meanings are revealed.
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All stories previously released. If you're a die-hard fan of Russo, it's certainly for you. ( )

This is a nice collection of short stories. Russo ans brilliantly smooth prose and it's a pleasure to read, however I was not particularly drawn in by any of these stories. Maybe just not right for me. ( )