Well, I sure have missed this joint, but with adjusting to a new job and such, I have been short on time for blogging, or even doing things worth blogging about.

(Not that the latter ever stopped me before.)

But today I took a break from all the hubbub to search for new reading material. Summer is coming, after all, and there are few greater pleasures in my life than sitting out on my deck in one of my porch rocker with my view of the Amoskeag River, a tall glass of iced green tea (or, if the day has warranted it, a small glass of wine) and a good book.

I read through all my latest purchases, so I headed out to the Manchester Barnes & Noble to shop for something fresh.

I stumbled across a copy of "St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," a collection of short stories by Karen Russell. The odd thing is, I heard the title story back in January, when it was featured on "Selected Shorts" on NPR. I had tuned in while making quesadillas for a wee dinner party with a few former Telegraph photogs, so it stands out in my mind partly for that reason alone. I also remember Joanna Gleason’s voice bringing the piece to life. Her voice is forever recognizable to me as the voice of the Baker’s Wife in the original cast production of "Into the Woods," for which she won the acting triple crown, racking up a Tony, Outer Circle Critic and Drama Desk Award. (When I am ridiculously happy, I sing in the shower. It’s only then that I feel completely un-self-conscious. I’ve been known to warble some Baker’s Wife tunes in this state, although my voice will never even approach hers in quality or power. That’s the kind of effect Gleason’s performance had on me. It is one of those performances that just feels like no one else could ever try to touch.) 

But it was the story itself — the purpose of "Selected Shorts," after all, that struck me most. Russell’s humor infuses so much of it, as well as her odd imagination. How else do you describe someone who has imagined a world where not only are girls raised by wolves (literally) but that there are enough to require and entire school dedicated to teaching them to abandon their canine ways. I was so enamored with the tale, I actually had to turn it off because I kept forgetting the quesadillas and didn’t want to ruin dinner for my coming guests.

Thank goodness the podcast was available to download and listen to later. The evening was saved in all possible ways.

I wondered, as I lifted Russell’s 10 tales off the shelf, whether the rest of her writing would be as vibrant and dreamy and unusual. I lost a good chunk of the afternoon standing awkwardly in the aisle of Barnes & Noble, then tucked at a corner table and then back out in the aisle, absorbed in first the tale of Ava and her alligator wrestling, how she her older sister Ossie was possessed by Luscious. Next came the story of Timothy and Wallow, searching the depths of the ocean for some sign of their sister, Olivia, who was pulled out with the tide on a crab sled and presumed dead. And then the sleepaway camp designed to help even out the nights of the sleep-disordered. Her descriptions are so rich and meaty and full of moments that ring so beautifully original and true, no matter how outlandish their settings or characters seem. When Timothy tells his brother about the nightmares he has about Olivia’s death, that a giant ocean hand snatched her into the sea,Wallow’s guilt of his own role in his sister’s disappearance becomes achingly palpable.

"Are you serious? That’s what you have nightmares about, bro? Some lame-ass Mickey Mouse glove that comes out of the sea?" His lip curled up, but there was envy in his voice, too. "I just see my own hands, you know? Pushing her down that hill."

The economy lately is making it a little rough on many folks, stretched too thin to get away for the upcoming holiday weekend. But if you’re reading this, you can at least look up the podcast from Jan. 21 that contains Gleason’s reading of "St. Lucy’s Home for Girls." Better still, pick up the whole book. Russell will take you to 10 different worlds. And you’ll be drunk and dizzy from the beauty of each one when you’re through.