“I search for answers to questions that, I suspect, are as old as human time itself.”
This collection presents memories, from a variety of New Yorkers, in different places and times. These are the lessons of life in the city:
· Can people whose lives are filled with wicked acts also be loving and kind?
· Why do only some people suffer cruel and unexplained tragic events?
· Who will help when someone is slipping blindly into harm?
· Must we pass through darkness to find light?
· Does committing a sin irrevocably scar the sinner?
· Who is pursuing whom: the person chasing the future, or the future luring the person?
· Does forgiveness exist?
· How does one solitary life fit in the force of history?
· Are people ultimately punished for their misdeeds or rewarded for their kindnesses?
· What is fate?
· How does a person live a fulfilled life knowing death is to come?
· Who answers unspoken questions?
· Who is the savior?
A Gathering of Broken Mirrors tells twenty-four New York stories that are jagged pieces of a broken mirror. These distinct voices of the famous, the infamous, and the anonymous, through the shards of their memories, open the hard road to what’s next.
Shaw introduces other colorful, fascinating figures: tough wiseguys and the particulars of their practice, kids getting in nearly lethal situations when gambling, a toxic seductress being compared to Satan, a bartender who saves an old schoolmate from a loan shark. In the case of a long-suffering couple who have come to despise each other, he presents both the unique points of view; in every case, there's a bit of bluster and hyperbole, reflecting these people’s self conception, as well as more than a little sentiment for some of the times past: “[h]is father’s life was centered on three things: his family, his Church, and his job… [y]ou could call it the greatness of America.”
Shaw's portraits are overwhelmingly sympathetic, no matter his subjects’ sins or crimes, though he also never sugarcoats them. That sympathy is earned through his acute eye for detail, like the traditional Neapolitan dishes served at a mob-frequented restaurant, or the intricacies of converting stolen bail bonds into cash. The tales all share a pattern of storytelling cadence despite their frequently disparate subject matter as Shaw celebrates the rhythms of the city itself—and those who find ways to survive in it.
Takeaway: These short stories about tough guys, shady deals, and deeply held traditions will appeal to anyone who loves New York City's history and character.
Great for fans of: Brandon Stanton’s Humans, Catherine Burns’s The Moth.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: C
