The essence of humanity, the universality and ambiguous nature of being a fool, these are the themes into which Silber's "Fools" delve in a both delicate and sharp manner.

When is it wise to be a fool for something? From New York to India to Paris, from the Catholic Worker movement to Occupy Wall Street, the characters in Joan Silber's dazzling connected stories tackle this question head-on.
Vera, the shy, anarchist daughter of missionary parents, leaves her family for love and activism in New York. A generation later, her doubting daughter insists on the truth of being of two minds, even in marriage. The adulterous son of a Florida hotel owner steals money from his family and departs for Paris, where he finds himself outsmarted in turn. Fools ponders the circle of winners and losers, dupers and duped, and the price we pay for our beliefs, offering readers an unforgettable look at work, faith, love and the eternal quest for personal integrity. The author has a great gift for characterisation - nuanced, interesting, believable people.

Joan Silber’s Fools comes billed as a collection of linked short stories, beginning with the titular piece set in a 1920s Greenwich Village anarchist commune, setting the scene for the following five stories and introducing many of the themes running through all six - social justice, idealism, religion, principles and love. Taking us from New York to India to Paris, it follows a cast of characters linked to those in the opening story, some more closely than others, all fools for something. From The Hanging Fruit in which Anthony remembers his youthful disgrace and the comeuppance that shaped the rest of his life to Going Too Far which sees Gerard realising what he's lost by turning his back on belief and principle, Silber's characters make mistakes, embrace redemption, have epiphanies, struggle with temptation, fall in love and out again, just as we all do. Characterised by same quiet understatement and insight that marks her novels Improvement and Secrets of Happiness, Fools is a fine collection.

This is the second short story collection that I have loved from Joan Silber, a remarkably astute and smart writer, with her understated prose and ability to throw a light on ordinary people and their everyday lives in a extraordinarily subtly nuanced and multilayered way. Whilst Ideas of Heaven were stories linked in the structure of a circle, here we have 6 stories that link together in the form of a web or network, through time, numerous locations, both national and global, and different generations of the same family. The theme here is almost intrinsic to humanity, the universality of foolishness, but being a fool can be ambiguous in nature as is illustrated in this anthology with its complex and contradictory characters, the circumstances they find themselves in, the decisions they make, and the search to be good.

People may be fools for whatever we choose to put our faith in, for example, for love, religion, drink, political ideology and freedom. In 1920s New York focuses on a group of idealist radical anarchists, some of whom live together, included amongst their number is Dorothy Day. Vera, born in India and is married to Joe, and their daughter, Louise goes on to wed her high school boyfriend only to find herself facing the most unexpected of futures when she is denied the right to join him in Japan, a separation that is to have an indelible effect on their marriage over time. The promiscuous and drinking Anthony brings his wife to live in his parents hotel in Florida, ending up stealing money from his parents and escaping to Paris where he faces a form of retribution. Marcus's relationship with Nico breaks up, he finds himself caught up in his memories and learning of Betsy and Norman, and Gerard's wife, gives birth and leaves him but their marriage stands, and Rudy really wants a charity contribution.

I have only recently become acquainted with Joan Silber's short stories, and am so delighted to have discovered her, I am so surprised that I have never come across her before. If you have a penchant for superior short stories, well written, so observant of human nature, people and all the possibilities of connections, then this outstanding anthology is for you. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

The stories in Fools by Joan Silber are linked but also independent. Perfect for fans of literary short fiction, spanning a variety of times and places.