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While this collection by these excellent short story publishers will please most fans of Sue Dunlap, it left me flat. I think that's more a matter of taste than talent; in other words, it's me, not Dunlap. I've read a lot of Dunlap's fiction; the Berkeley-based Jill Smith series, the Vejay Haskell books and some of the books about Kiernan O'Shaughnessy. When I lived in Berkeley, I was politically active and saw the Berkeley police in action often. I'm not sure Smith and I would ever have gotten along, but I think we might have respected each other. My hesitations about this collection, which showcases stories written by Dunlap all the way back to 1978, starts with the title story. This piece which won the Anthony, has never been a favorite for me. The setting just doesn't do it. I guess it's amusing, but the afterlife, death and judgment, serious or humorous, doesn't do it for me. These are topics that really don't interest me -- and there are several of these stories in Celestial Buffet . As part of the "counter-culture" of Berkeley, I found the punch line of "Ott on a Limb" only so-so; I disagree with the author's contention regarding an embarrassing situation. (I guess when it comes down to it, Berkeley is not amusing or crazy to me, but the source of hard-hitting politics and movements.) "Death and Diamonds" is a finely-crafted O'Shaughnessy story but that was for me the highlight of this collection. As usual, C&L has done a fine job in offering a bibliography of the author's works, and quality cover art. If you liked "Celestial Buffet" when you first read it, you'll probably enjoy this collection of short stories. Because a number of the main stories were not to my taste, it felt thin.
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, May 2001
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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