Title: Hazardous Pay, Shirt Talk and Twenty-Four Other Stories
Author: Ivan Prashker
Publisher: ARPress
ISBN: 979-8-89389-100-3
Pages: 316
Genre: Short Stories / Anthology / Thematic
Reviewer: Subhrajit Saha

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The famous American author Stephen King once said, “A short story is like a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger,” depicting how in a short span this genre can create a huge impact on somebody. Every niche of literature has its own beauty, but a collection of stories is like reaching the ninth cloud for a book lover. Ivan Prashker’s thematic short story book Hazardous Pay, Shirt Talk and Twenty-Four Other Stories quenches the thirst of exploring multiple worlds in a very short space and time. There are five different segments in the collection based on their theme. The title seems like a rainbow to the bibliophiles offering numerous emotions from happiness, thrill, sadness to a walk down the memory lane making the readers nostalgic and numb for a long time.

Segment one, named “Childhood,” explores the dynamic of a few children who are either dealing with traumatic childhood or going exploring life to the fullest in their teenage days. Sometimes their track makes us feel pity for them, or sometimes we feel nostalgic about how they are going through the best times of their early days of life with no complexity, no responsibility, nothing. Siblings Sandra and Arlene went camping with their school mates and suddenly got to know their widowed father married somebody which he even did not mention while informing them about the incident. Being in the family for years they start to feel outsider with the sudden news and later when they get back to home and discover everything changed including their favorite corner of the house.

The seven years old Arlene could not find her favorite doll and there is no one in her family to listen to her problem and she starts hating her stepmother at the exact moment. Peter, a nine year old boy, has no one to have a conversation. His mother died a long time ago and his father doesn’t have any time to sit with him. Even when Peter asks his father to celebrate his dead mother’s birthday, he gets no sign of empathy from his busy father. He felt alone calling his aunt but did not have any courage to say anything more than “hello.” We as readers feel sorry for the poor lad. Except the dystopian tales there are stories giving a nostalgic vibe as well. In “The Minyan,” Richie trying to make a smoke ring or having conversation with Eric regarding crush and everything makes the reader travel back to their teenage days and that is probably the success of Ivan Prashker.

The name of the second segment “The Holocaust” signifies how the characters are stuck in a situation like living in hell. Where Bauman sisters, Eva and Angela are gossiping about their stepfather who has a disturbing personality all along. At the same time, how Angela plays with various men, raising questions like how she is different from her stepfather, Walter. This dilemma made that story very interesting. The horrifying tale of Michael Gorzki’s childhood and later the impact of it on the stockbroker Jay Weissf in “Gloves” makes the reader numb about the impact of a piece of gloves. In addition to that, the story makes us wonder why short stories have a special place in bookworms’ minds.

The next three segments explore the impact of war on characters, where the author explores the dynamics between motherly love for son, urge and love for freedom, and independence for women and male chauvinism. Where stories like ‘Fortunes of War, ‘P.O.W.’, ‘The Boss’s Son’ and ‘Shirt Talk’ create a long lasting impact on readers’ minds.

Overall, Hazardous Pay, Shirt Talk and Twenty-Four Other Stories is a flavorful book where everybody will get something satisfying their own taste, making Ivan Prashker’s book feel very engaging. From the humor of office politics to the hazards of human nature, these stories capture the complexities, surprises, and absurdities of modern life with sharp insight and unforgettable characters.  A perfect read for fans of contemporary short fiction.