Nasty, Nasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     It should not have surprised me that "Property," by Lionel Shriver, is the nastiest  collection of short stories I have read in recent memory.  After all, Shriver's career was put on the map by her grueling 2003 novel, "We Need To Talk About Kevin," that, nine years later, in 2012, became a stunning movie starring Tilda Swinton.  Though a "Bad Seed" update for the Millennial age, it was both genuinely chilling and spot on target, for its time.

                                      After her following book, "The Post Birthday World," I dismissed Shriver as a one hit wonder, deciding I would not follow her hereafter.  But after "Property" made "The New York Times 100 Most Notable Books List," I had to see for myself.  And did.

                                        I had my share of fun.  Shriver's nastiness is entertaining, if repetitive.  The title is a brilliant conception; all of the stories, and the two novellas that bookend them,  have to do with the topic of "property," but who or what that property is varies from work to work.

                                         My favorite was the novella, "The Standing Chandelier," where this bitch, Paige, wants her husband to be her exclusive property, forcing him to cut off a 25 year friendship, which was hardly a threat to their marriage.  Hubby stupidly goes along with it, but, had this story been carried forward, I would bet he would discover this was the first of many consequences of marrying Paige.  Life with a passive aggressive bitch eventually can be psychologically draining.

                                            "Domestic Terrorism," my favorite, was clearly Shriver's take on last year's story of Michael Rotondo, whose parents wanted their 30-year-old son, out of their house.  The parents get their wish, but Liam, the son, here, finds a way to make things come back and bite them.

                                            "Vermin" was, literally, a tale of raccoon terror.  It stayed within the realm of reality; these were standard critters, not giant ones, but the way the husband, especially, reacted to the threat of them, made me look out my window, afterward, terrified raccoons would be lurking in the dark, outside.

                                             "Repossession" was straight out of "The Twilight Zone," and would have made for a great episode on that classic show."  The final novella,  "The Subletter," was not quite "Single White Female," though two women do psychologically fight it out for tenancy of a flat.

                                               All admirably written, but a little too much of the same, lacking the cunning, twisted inventiveness of, say, Shirley Jackson, whom I think Shriver was aiming for.

                                                Still, "Property" is a fun read, and makes one think about the true value of what is owned.

                                                 Or is not.  Or wants to be.