Orientation by Daniel Orozco

Orientation is a collection of nine short stories by Daniel Orozco.  Although he has been widely published in several respected literary publications (McSweeney's, Harper's and Best American Short Stories), this is Orozco's first book.  He is not widely known.  Amazon selected this book as one of its best of May 2011.  His fame should change with this book.

The title story, Orientation (available here), is a first person plural story about the first day in the office.  It is funny and biting and brings to mind a novel about office life told in the first person plural by Jonathan Ferris, Then We Came to the End.  Another story, The Bridge, is about the life of bridge painters and their role in talking people off the edge of the bridge.  Temporary Stories tells the story of a woman's temporary employment in three jobs.  Hunger Tales is series of stories about eating and the emotions of several characters.  Officer's Weep was incredibly creative.  It is the love story of two police officers told through a police reports.  Highly creative, readable and fun.

Each story has a perfect narrative tension, which grips the reader's attention throughout.  Each word in the story is carefully selected.  Each character comes across with a unique voice.

My recommendation is simple: read this collection.  It is worth it.  Enjoy it.

The story, Officer's Weep, reminded my of the story told through an inbox.  See below (original link here).  Read from the bottom up.