Beautiful Days (2024) by Zach Williams

 Book Review

Beautiful Days (2024)

by Zach Williams

   Beautiful Days is the debut short-story collection by American author Zach Williams.  I checked out the Audiobook from the library after reading the New York Times review earlier this month referred to him as a "genuine young talent...who deftly palpates the dark areas of human psyche." while at the same time making many of the same points I've made here about the difficulty of writing about short-story collections.  My favorite was "Ghost Image" about a divorced dad type slouching towards the end of the world at  Disneyworld type resort.  I also liked "Wood Sorrel House," a riff on the Groundhog Day theme featuring a terrifying infant toddler and some fine descriptive work.   The Audiobook I read was well done- most of the stories (all?) feature a narrator/protagonist type with a single point of view expressed in each story, which makes for a good listening experience.  I wouldn't exactly recommend Beautiful Days to all and sundry, but if you are someone who likes short stories and edgy milieus then Zach Williams is going to be your guy!