Book Review: A Good Day And Other (Mostly) Humorous Stories & Lists

Reviewed by Toni Woodruff

A smartly funny collection of lists, quips, and critiques

It takes an experimentalist to write this kind of literary fiction—a collection that dabbles, that dances, that reflects the rush of our slow everyday lives. An academic in mind but a human at heart, Radu Guiaşu is our qualified experimentalist here. And he’s ready to poke fun at just about everything, with sharp punchlines, funny concepts, and entertaining lists.

This book is a hodgepodge of creativity. You already know about the lists in the collection, but that isn’t the only alternate form the stories take. Some are fictional essays; some are all dialogue; some are an absolute riot. 

I’m looking at you, “Save the Yellow-Bellied Scumsucker!” Oh man, this story. The titular fish thrives on scum—on gross rivers and streams, on the negative effects humans have had on it. But we keep cleaning it! Sure it might sound good to clean all the rivers and streams, but what if you’re destroying a species? This is a fun, lighthearted play on conservation efforts, but it doesn’t even knock it in the end. It acknowledges our role in it, that we are funny and worth laughing at, and that life impacts life, no matter how.

“If I didn’t talk about what a loser I am, I would have nothing to say.”

Guiaşu’s creative forms take on varied subjects, but many of them are cutting up academia, publishing, and why people do the things they do. Some stories are joke forward while other stories lead with their heart and have jokes in tow, like “Rolls Royce Silver Shadow,” a meaningful story about childhood, memory, and artifacts. Other highlights include “The Date” and “The Day the Bear Came.”

There’s a lot to like in this collection, but some of the lists can feel a bit repetitive and some are more effective than others. Since all of them come in during the second half of the book, it creates for a swift reading experience, but I can’t help but wonder what it would have felt like if only the best of them were interspersed with the other story forms instead of one after the other. 

The book’s best lists tell stories and make us laugh at the same time, like “Things You Probably Should Not Say at Your 40th High School Reunion.” This one gives us glimpses into various characters and what could happen on a single night with a bunch of very old semi-friends turned strangers. I loved these lists. There isn’t much scene-setting and character-building for all those who ask that of their story collections, but readers are rewarded in other ways here.

A Good Day… is a fun foray into form-bending short stories. Guiaşu does an excellent job of keeping things light while still absolutely scorching them. If you’re looking for good jokes and inventive storytelling, you can’t go wrong here.

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