Influx Press brought the American writer Percival Everett to wider recognition in the UK by republishing much of his work, including the brilliant short story collection Damned If I Do. They are one of several independent publishers who deserve a great deal of credit for championing short stories.
In ‘The Fix’, sandwich shop owner Douglas Langley rescues a man named Sherman Olney from a beating. He takes Sherman in and Sherman offers to fix Douglas’ fridge then his plumbing. Soon Sherman is fixing everything – a foot massager, a toy car, a razor. Word soon gets around the neighbourhood and Sherman is bombarded with requests. Then he brings a woman back to life. Everett’s story is a perfect example of George Saunders’ dictum about short fiction: “always be escalating”. I love how this story, which begins in a downbeat, fairly ordinary way, takes on a mythic, parable-like quality. Sherman becomes a Christ-like figure, but like Christ his gift threatens his downfall.
First published in New York Stories; collected in Damned If I Do, Influx Press, 2021
A Personal Anthology 