The sixteen stories collected in Jeffrey M. Feingold’s THE BLACK HOLE PASTRAMI – Stories were all previously published separately, but clearly share a universe. Many of them appear to be at least somewhat autobiographical, with family legends popping up repeatedly, and there are callbacks and call-forwards that make the experience of reading them similar to hearing someone relating tales at a quiet gathering. The stories are also linked by themes. There is loss, especially in terms of loved ones and family. In the title story, a vegetarian goes to the local deli in order to procure a black pastrami sandwich for his dying father, only to discover that his father’s disease prevents him from enjoying this one last pleasure. In “The Sugar Thief,” the narrator tells readers about an aunt he found embarrassing when he was a callow youth, and ends with a lament about the many relatives he can no longer speak with or hear stories from. There’s also a lot of gentle humor. In “Here’s Looking at You, Syd” an attempt to adopt a baby from Russia is peppered with comedic descriptions and absurd moments, such as when their cab driver continuously repeats the only English he apparently knows: “You look like Bruce Willis” while the narrator wonders how to communicate when the only Russian he has learned is “hello, good morning, how are you, and thank you.”

There are no extremes in these stories; the sadness is mild and the humor is soft. There’s an echo of Jean Shepherd’s work here, a humorous and slightly fictionalized recounting of an affectionately-recalled if not perfect childhood and life—instead of a Red Rider BB gun, a young boy carries around a pillow case full of explosives with which to battle Nazis. Feingold sometimes seems in a rush to get to his punchlines, missing chances to fill in blanks and offer details and often defaulting to a literary shrug of the shoulders when memory fails. In “America’s Test Chicken,” for example, after six pages of buildup to the creation of “one of the hottest cooking shows on cable TV” from absurd beginnings, the end is wrapped up in seven quick sentences. The result is that many of the stories feel more like sketches than fully-formed works of fiction. This is especially disappointing when a work like “America’s Test Chicken” actually delivers a fun and interesting setting and conflict (when a businesslike professional is hired to salvage a magazine more or less accidentally launched by a group of decidedly unprofessional counter-culture types) that shows promise for something more interesting.

IR Verdict: Jeffrey M. Feingold writes with tremendous charm and has a gentle, affectionate attitude towards his characters and their situations in THE BLACK HOLE PASTRAMI, a collection of stories that are quick and comforting reads.

~Jeff Somers for IndieReader