Review of Barbara Black’s “Music From a Strange Planet”

By Skylar Kay

Music From a Strange Planet
by Barbara Black
Caitlin Press (2021)

Barbara Black’s Music From A Strange Planet is a well-curated collection of short stories; several themes run throughout the book, and while there are no repeat characters or settings as one may expect, the concept of shedding one’s old life to be reborn anew is enough to tie these stories together in a way that makes them carry more weight than if each story were presented independently.

This theme of embracing a new path in life, or aspect of one’s life, is the focal point in many of Black’s stories. From the love-starved traveler abroad in “Knedliky” to the artist who finds her new voice and style in “The Watcher and the Watched” these metamorphoses are impactful and generally well done because of the attention paid to character development. The character progression in each story left me satisfied as most characters are believable and sympathetic, with a clear history and new path forward. I use the word metamorphosis to describe their changes specifically because of the main allegory Black uses to draw attention to the characters’ changes—bugs. Shedding a layer, emerging from a cocoon, finding a new way of seeing or communicating that seems beyond human—all of these insect-esque abilities are embraced by Black’s characters. While the vast majority of these changes are not literal for the characters themselves, their insect counterparts certainly nudge the reader towards seeing a connection, though it is never heavy-handed, and always appreciated and the right amount of creepy.

While many main characters are well-conceived and believable, there are some points that made me think ‘wait, who would do that?’ or ‘who is that and why are they here?’ One such event is in the story “Mist Covered Mountains” when a small child just barges into a stranger’s house and acts like she owns the place, and both the stranger and the child’s mother are nonchalant about it all. The problem with unnecessary characters can be seen, unfortunately, in what I considered the strongest story in the collection, “Man in the Moon” as there is a trio of girls in the neighbourhood, but only two have distinct personality or dialogue; the third just kind of tags along for the ride and takes up space. That is one of the only flaws with an otherwise fantastic story, as is often the case with the stories from Black’s collection.

Music From A Strange Planet provides insight about the human experience and how one grows and changes multiple times from birth to old age. Black captures the voice of many people well, regardless of age, gender, or general walk of life. Each story is unique in that there are no repeat characters or places, but each also works really well in the collection together. Only one story felt out of place in my opinion, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. Certainly, worth a read.