Contributing Writer
I don’t read short stories as often as I once did. These days when I turn to fiction, I prefer the complexity, character development and narrative arc of a novel. Recently, however, a documentary about Flannery O’Connor, one of the masters of the short story, led me to give the genre another try. By happenstance, a collection by a regional writer recently crossed my desk: “By the Way,” by Caperton Tissot. The stories feature a number of familiar short fiction subjects: marriages that have lost their allure for both parties, introspective conflict about the superficiality of financial success, boredom and restlessness. In several cases, people are connivers, and the potential for evil lurks just beneath the surface.
Dec 14, 2020 Saranac Lake author Caperton Tissot s newest book is her first collection of short stories, which she hopes will serve as a respite from the Coronavirus pandemic and other challenges. Mostly fictional, Tissot says the characters in her 17 stories in
By The Way involve folks from a variety of social strata and are set in the jungles of Brazil, a Manhattan skyscraper, and a remote Western town. The final story, the only non-fictional piece in the book, is set in a Saranac Lake neighborhood.
Todd Moe caught up with Caperton Tissot to talk more about By The Way , which she calls a reminder of mankind s unpredictable nature .