This Cake is for the Party

Embedded in each of these stories, though not bluntly stated or clumsily constructed, is an everyday moral dilemma to be considered. In the opening story, “Throwing Cotton,” questions on the role of rivalry in friendship (is there any such thing as friendly rivalry?), especially among men, arise. Later, in “Prognosis,” the author queries when and how best, whether it best, to speak one’s mind to a dominant, powerful inlaw. For “Go-Manchura” Selecky uses the countryside pastoral to examine how and why friends humour friends who are desperately trying to find a new direction. Selecky skilfully employs small details and gestures that reveal character, while simply constructing stories, their sentences and scenes. Besides good writing, readers get a starting point for solving dilemmas in their own lives.