It took me until the final story of the book to understand why Gartner named her collection Better Living Through Plastic Explosives. The title is drawn from the final story of the same name within the book. In total, the work contains ten stories, but three stood out to me.
"Floating Like a Goat" is a story I encountered over a year ago in an undergraduate class on the short story. It takes the form of a sarcastic letter written by a mother to her daughter's teacher regarding a report card which claims her daughter is not meeting expectations in art. Through this story, the idea of art and what we expect art to be is dealt with.
Another notable story is "Summer of the Flesh Eater." A suburban neighborhood spends a summer attempting to adjust to the introduction of a new neighbour. The ending, although ambiguous, points to a shocking conclusion.
Then, there is "Better Living Through Plastic Explosives," the final story in the book which leads the reader into the mind of a woman who considers herself a recovering terrorist. Living in the suburbs with her husband and son, the woman struggles against the city as she tries to have a round-about put in to slow down traffic which speeds through the neighbourhood, posing a danger to children. Unable to control herself, the woman dwells on the thought of past and present terrorism.
Although I enjoyed working my way through these stories, I was not as impressed as I would have liked to have been. Despite being a Giller Prize finalist, I found the writing too ambiguous, especially near the end of stories, to be enjoyable. The collection is heavily laden with death. I do give Gartner credit, however, as every story translates a point of some sort.
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