Mixed Company: Stories

Mixed Company by Jenny Shank is a short story collection that is the winner of the 2020 George Garrett Fiction Prize. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “In Mixed Company Jenny Shank reveals moments of grace and connection between people of her hometown, Denver, through stories that contrast the city during its oil-bust era of economic troubles and court-ordered crosstown busing for racial desegregation with the burgeoning and gentrifying city of recent years. Characters find their initial perceptions and ideas overturned in these stories laced with humor, heart, and grit. Jenny Shank forges fiction out of the sparks that fly when diverse people encounter one another.”

This is a heartfelt, and often funny, collection of excellent short stories, a worthy selection for the George Garrett Fiction Prize. These fine stories standout: “L'homme de ma vie,” “Casa del Ray,” “Sexycana,” and “Local Honey.” Many of the stories feature diverse characters trying to love each other, or eventually clash with each other. Shank is a confident writer in both first- and third-person, but the first-person narrators sound especially assured. Most of the stories unfold in Denver, Colorado, a quirky setting in Shank's hands, where these diverse characters are forced to contend with one another. Sometimes it works out; many times it doesn't. But Shank is a worthy literary tour guide of this bustling melting pot near the Rocky Mountains.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 5 stars.