Love and the Bottle

Virginia Gillham is university librarian at Wilfrid Laurier University.

This series of 13 short stories by Saskatchewan author Don Kerr has, as
its common thread, social interaction and alcohol: where the combination
leads, and what introspection it precipitates concerning sex and love,
in individuals of all walks of life and all levels of education.

The stories cover a wide variety of themes and situations, but one of
the messages seems to be the sameness of reaction to the combination of
sex and alcohol, regardless of the individuals involved in the
interaction or of the circumstances.

An arrestingly beautiful woman plants the first seed of suspicion about
her very ordinary nature with her choice of cheap wine, and confirms the
suspicion with a single, profane sentence. A neighborhood bar is the
site of the development of a relationship deemed to be substantive by
the participants, but perceived by the reader as superficial. The
drinking relationship of a group of academics is the vehicle through
which the reader comes to understand a treasured, lifelong relationship
between two colleagues, but also the characteristics they share with
less-educated segments of humanity.

The vignettes are interesting and thought-provoking, and include a
number of humorous references to Canadian idiosyncrasies, but it is even
more satisfying to the reader to contemplate Kerr’s style and craft.
He is skilled at allowing readers to experience the environment of the
story, and at leading them to fill in the blanks, draw unspoken
conclusions, and tell the real, thematic story for themselves.