Eagle Feast painting by DJ Geribo

At a mere 43 pages on my tablet, this novelette covered the gamut of relationship woes and misunderstandings. The characters, three couples who have been friends and lived in the same neighborhood for years, have split up, down-sized, and moved 45 minutes away from each other and are brought together by the disappointing 2016 presidential election.

The main character, David, seems lost in his once secure and predictable world when an unidentified human feces shows up in the hot tub. The situation accelerates culminating in his wife, Ellie, moving out and into the house with their daughter, whose own marriage is falling apart. It is easy to see how the story is a metaphor of what we saw happening in the White House, particularly in reference to the smells and the feces that appear almost daily in their hot tub. Within a short time the odor permeates the entire house and they are forced to sell the house. You are never sure if David will join his wife in CA, where the daughter tells them, it is still America out here. A wonderful story, the brevity proves the talent of Russo to make his point in just a few words.

I rate "Sh*tshow" 5 out of 5 stars

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