Anatomies

A Novella and Stories

by Anndee Hochman

Picador, 226pp., $18

“How did you know if your life was the one you were supposed to be living, or if you’d made a bad turn a few blocks back and ended up where you were by default?” So reads just one of many ruminations by the characters in Anndee Hochman’s first collection of stories, Anatomies. Her characters — among them a polysexual young woman, a lesbian single mother, and a gay photojournalist — are obsessed with figuring out the greater meanings and purposes of their lives. Frequently, Hochman’s stories are marred by pretentiousness and preachy social commentary; as a result, her characters float around as types, not as individuals. Hochman is more successful when she avoids trying to answer weighty questions and instead focuses on the personal lives of the characters, as in the story “Good With Animals,” in which an awkward young girl finds comfort not in human companionship but in small animals. In “Local Currency,” a Cuban immigrant drag queen paints his body silver and performs in the Miami streets, sending money and untruthful notes back home to his loving mother. In such stories, Hochman digs deep and successfully into the anatomies of her creations.

This article appears in July 28 • 2000.

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