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A Cannibal Yankee in Queen Clinton’s Court
by Bryan DiTolvo

A Cannibal Yankee in Queen Clinton’s Court is a collection of poetry and short stories from the mind of Bryan DiTolvo. The book opens up with an interesting quote from Adolf Hitler but a less than interesting let alone remarkable one from actress Tuesday Knight.

The first selection in the book, denoted as “Introduction” is laid out in television script form and seems more like a joke than a serious attempt at writing. Considering the importance of first impressions I thought the placement, and overall addition of this selection, into the work was poorly done. I confess that after reading that I was rather hesitant to click on the next page. I think it prudent that I mention that the version of this work I read was a .PDF version that was supplied by the author himself. As such, my copy of this work may differ in layout and design from the version that you, the readers, will read.

Now one thing that threw me off and distracted me a bit was the lack of a table of contents with each work’s title and page location listed. In fact the complete lack of titles, aside from their numerical placement, for the individual works was rather disconcerting as it gave the impression of everything being connected, and while some pieces did feature characters who made reappearances or the individual pieces tied in nicely to the following piece, that wasn’t always necessarily the case. The author did allow for some white space after each work to signify the start of a new piece however which helped.

Many of the short stories featured in DiTolvo’s work would be more accurately described as drabbles as they are exceptionally short. While the writing and imagery in these drabbeles is not only outstanding and engaging the length, or rather lack there of, detracts from the piece. On numerous occasions I found myself really getting into the short story only to come to an abrupt end that left me wondering how I had come to the end of the track already when it had only just begun. It almost appeared as though the author was afraid to let these individual tales go on too long, a fear I believe he shouldn’t have.

Ironically enough, DiTolvo pokes fun of his short stories in “Fifty” where he and another character discuss his previous collection The Girl With the Lampshade Eyes.

“The stories are too short, though. Most people aren’t into reading stories that only span a page and a half” (p63).

I do not believe it’s so much that people “aren’t into” reading such short stories, rather that these extra-short stories do not always allow readers to feel as though they have gotten real insight and understand for the story. In the fan fiction community “drabbles”, which is what most would call DiTolvo’s short stories, work well because the readers already have the basic knowledge of the personality of the characters and the events in the series. So exceptionally short pieces, while sometimes disappointing, can be better appreciated and do not necessarily leave the readers feeling as though they were shorted or missed something.

That is not to say that I did not enjoy the short stories featured in A Cannibal Yankee in Queen Clinton‘s Court, merely that I would have liked to see them fleshed out a bit more. One particular short story, which I have since memorized, “Six”, is a little piece told from the point of view of a character named David St. Avis. I believe the reason why I liked this piece, and several of DiTolvo’s other selections, is because I could relate to them nicely.

My name is David St. Avis. I am twenty-nine years old and I work as a closer for Wendy’s. That means I go in at 4pm and stay until around midnight, working dinner rush and closing down the restaurant. A closer. Take the C from that word and that’s what I feel like every time I put my uniform on. Can I take your order, please?

I certainly was never a closer at Wendy’s, I don’t even eat there, but I have held less than desirable job positions, as I’m sure many others have, in my life and despite the shortness of the piece I was instantly able to connect with the character and empathize with him as well. To draw a reader in and have said reader instantly draw connections with the story at hand and their own life in such a short passage takes remarkable skill, a skill which DiTolvo demonstrates. I cannot however say the same for the passages written in script format, those just came off severely bland

While some aspects of DiTolvo’s short stories equally impressed and disappointed me I have to confess to finding no real fault with the poetry contained in the collection. Each poem was carefully constructed and nestled between short stories, sometimes even seeming to tie into its neighbors. There was not a single poem amongst the collection that I disliked, a fact that still startles me, and there were numerous which I would term my “favorites” (One, Five, Eighteen, Thirty-five). Number “Twenty” however stood out and called to me the most:

Everything I ever had
was something that you found.
You have the gift of soothing me
without a touch or sound.

Your midnight mansion answers me
and calmly lets me in.
Inside your home all pain is gone.
Inside there is no sin.

The look of pleasure on your face
by grace, elated me.
To see your soul so full
of love’s delight enlightens me.

Over all, reading A Cannibal Yankee in Queen Clinton’s Court was akin to wandering through a dream. There were the moments where events and happenings were befuddling to the reader, likewise there were also moments of crystal sharp clarity. It was an enjoyable trip for not only the mind but the senses as well. As happens in most collections, there were several individual pieces that I thought shined well above the rest and some that I thought it would have been better to have left them out. Pretty much, I think DiTolvo could have left out all of the pieces done in script format (or written them in a different manner for that matter) and this collection would have been the better for it.

Joana’s rating: (3 out of 5 stars)