Barry Yourgrau's A Man Jumps Out of an Airplane is one of the most original pieces of fiction that I have ever read. A joy to read--at least when one gets into the style and the mood of the author--and definitely worth the effort.

Airplane is a collection of what Yourgrau's promoters call "flash fiction." It consists entirely of one-page snippets that present a scene or story for the reader.

We should paraphrase a few of these pieces in order to get a feel for this innovative style of fiction. In one such "flash" a man falls in love with two girls, trapped in an aquarium, who look like they are content to stay there.

In another tale, a man steals two fish from a fish bowl. Burdened by guilt, he flees the scene only to be killed by the antlers of a moose strapped to the hood of a passing car.

One more example: A man jumps inside a cow and decides to stay there and drink the "fresher than dairy-fresh milk."

These few excerpts may give an idea of the book's surrealistic character, but one has to read it to experience the full randomness of his prose. Some of the stories seem to hint at some theme or another, but more often the events in a particular story seem like the Yourgrau chose them at random, just to see how ridiculous his story could be.

A Man Jumps Out of an Airplane

Stories by Barry Yourgrau

Clarkson N. Polter, Inc.

$10.00

We can describe the stories best as resembling the dreams we dream every night--sometimes incoherent, usually inexplicable and always random. Most importantly, these stories are extremely interesting and incredibly fun to read. These attributes do not insinuate in any way that the pages of this book are profound, but they are so diverse that they surely connect with the reader at some point in the novel.

Yourgrau did not intend to make A man Jumps Out of an Airplane profound or give answers to "modern problems." Instead, the book provides a release from the real world by plunging the reader into a world where anything can--and does--happen.

Even more appealing about the book is the freedom that Yourgrau's style allows the reader. Its division into small frames lets the reader pick up the book and enjoy a brief escape into the imaginary world of the book--however long that moment may be.

We should commend Yourgrau for his powerful, descriptive voice. What he lacks in coherent thought processes he easily makes up for in the colorful and precise language he uses on every page. The reader can always envision the picture the author tries to sketch, though he seldom understands its meaning.

Barry Yourgrau's A Man Jumps Out of an Airplane is a work unlike any others. If read with the open mind and rich sense of humor with which it was written, this book will prove to be most enjoyable. Or at least it will provide a break from the monotony of modern life.