Vivienne's Reviews > Stag

“I hated to mention it. So much planning goes into a formal event. But the fact of the matter was, a desert tortoise was motoring around under all of the tables, trailing a black lace table runner. It was hypnotic to witness its scaly knees bending and straightening, its plated shell slipping through the golden light. It felt like watching a migrating baby mountain.”

Stag’ by Karen Russell is Book 4 in Amazon’s Trespass Collection, that focuses on encounters between humans and animals. Each title is accompanied by a free audiobook. I am slowly working my way through these titles.

I find that the cover art on this collection very appealing. Here the focus is upon a divorce ceremony being held at the Great Mojave, a ‘spendy’ location for such events. The story’s narrator is the plus-one of a young woman that he had just met the previous night. Unfamiliar with any of the participants and guests, he wanders about observing and interacting with various people as the day plays out.

The tortoise noted above is named Greeley, a rescue adopted by Matt to demonstrate that he was ‘tortoise-committed’ to Nia. Greeley had served as the ring bearer at their wedding and was now doing similar at their divorce.

It was a strange little story and as a big fan of tortoises I enjoyed Greeley’s antics. I was not familiar with Karen Russell before reading ‘Stag’ though am now interested in looking at her writing especially her debut novel, ‘Swamplandia’.