Ranking the Stories of EXIT ZERO by Marie-Helene Bertino by How Marie-Helene Bertino They Are [Teaser]

Summary

Book Riot - The Podcast: Ranking the Stories of Exit 0 by Marie-Helene Bertino

Release Date: April 29, 2025

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Introduction

In this teaser episode of Book Riot - The Podcast, hosts Jeff O'Neal and Rebecca Schinsky delve into Marie-Helene Bertino's latest short story collection, Exit 0. The discussion centers around ranking the stories based on how quintessentially Bertino they are, exploring the unique elements that define her writing style.

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Ranking the Stories: A Gordian Knot of Evaluation

Jeff introduces the episode's primary focus: assessing Bertino's short stories in Exit 0 by determining "how Marie-Helene Bertino they are." He likens this challenge to unraveling a Gordian knot, emphasizing the complexity of encapsulating an author's distinctive voice.

Jeff O’Neal [00:23]: "We’ve entertained ourselves for the last week with another one of our... ranking the short stories in Marie Helene Bertino's new collection Exit 0 by how Marie Helene Bertino they are."

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Rebecca Schinsky’s Insights on Bertino’s Style

Rebecca shares her impressions of Bertino's work, highlighting the author's charmingness, insightful character observations, and beautiful prose. Despite a smaller sample size of Bertino's stories, Rebecca feels confident in her ability to recognize Bertino's signature style.

Rebecca Schinsky [01:10]: "There is a kind of charmingness to some of the stories, a real insightful quality to how she observes characters and just beautiful sentences."

She appreciates how Bertino employs weirdness not for its own sake but to deepen the exploration of humanity and relationships. Rebecca notes the seamless integration of fantastical elements, where bizarre events are treated as ordinary occurrences within the story's world.

Rebecca Schinsky [02:28]: "I think that sensibility that like the world we live in is weird on its own... to highlight the weirdness of humanity and the weirdness of reality."

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Jeff O'Neal’s Observations on Fantastical Elements

Jeff echoes Rebecca's sentiments, praising Bertino's ability to incorporate minimal yet impactful supernatural twists. He contrasts her approach with more extreme speculative fiction, noting that Bertino's fantastical elements serve to illuminate character development and thematic depth without overwhelming the narrative.

Jeff O'Neal [03:23]: "It's really what it means for these characters and even this particular moment... it's a way of seeing it and understanding it and dealing with it."

He admires how Bertino reflects the inherent strangeness of the real world, suggesting that her stories don't need excessive fantastical components to convey their messages.

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Characterization and Humanity in Bertino’s Stories

Both hosts emphasize the warmth and humanity embedded in Bertino's narratives. Rebecca draws parallels between Bertino and George Saunders, particularly in their shared appreciation for the human condition and tenderness in storytelling.

Rebecca Schinsky [04:26]: "There's like a warmth to it... an appreciation for the weirdness, for the humanity."

Jeff adds that Bertino's characters are complex and nuanced, avoiding simplistic moral classifications. This depth allows for a more authentic and relatable portrayal of individuals navigating their unique circumstances.

Jeff O'Neal [04:43]: "Her characters tend not to be sort of morality pigeonholed where all the good characters are good and all the bad characters are bad."

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Highlight: The Least Bertino Story

As part of their ranking exercise, Jeff and Rebecca identify "The Ecstasy of Sam Malone" as the least representative of Bertino's typical style in Exit 0. Although it features a protagonist experiencing a surreal time loop reminiscent of a popular sitcom, it diverges slightly from the nuanced exploration of humanity found in her other stories.

Rebecca Schinsky [05:16]: "The Ecstasy of Sam Malone."

She provides a brief synopsis, suggesting the story involves a woman experiencing either a dream or a hallucination, leading to a repetitive scenario set in an episode of "Cheers."

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Conclusion

This teaser offers a glimpse into Jeff and Rebecca's thoughtful analysis of Marie-Helene Bertino's Exit 0. Their discussion underscores the delicate balance Bertino strikes between the ordinary and the surreal, all while maintaining a deep focus on character and human connection. For listeners eager to hear the full ranking and more in-depth conversations, the complete episode is available through Book Riot Podcast's Patreon.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jeff O’Neal [00:23]: "Ranking the short stories in Marie Helene Bertino's new collection Exit 0 by how Marie Helene Bertino they are."
• Rebecca Schinsky [01:10]: "There is a kind of charmingness to some of the stories, a real insightful quality to how she observes characters and just beautiful sentences."
• Rebecca Schinsky [02:28]: "I think that sensibility that like the world we live in is weird on its own... to highlight the weirdness of humanity and the weirdness of reality."
• Jeff O'Neal [03:23]: "It's really what it means for these characters and even this particular moment... it's a way of seeing it and understanding it and dealing with it."
• Rebecca Schinsky [04:26]: "There's like a warmth to it... an appreciation for the weirdness, for the humanity."
• Jeff O'Neal [04:43]: "Her characters tend not to be sort of morality pigeonholed where all the good characters are good and all the bad characters are bad."
• Rebecca Schinsky [05:16]: "The Ecstasy of Sam Malone."

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For the full episode and access to Book Riot's extensive library of premium content, listeners are encouraged to join the community at patreon.com/bookriotpodcast.

Transcript

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Foreign. You're listening to a teaser for Book Riot Podcast Premium content. If you want to hear the rest, join [e-mail] bookriotpodcast for just $10 a month, get access to our full library of premium content in addition to receiving early ad free access to the regular episodes you hear in the show. Here we go.

[Jeff O'Neal]

All right, we've entertained ourselves for the last week with another one of our let's see if we can figure out this Gordian knot of our own tying. And in this case, it is ranking the short stories in Marie Helene Bertino's new collection Exit 0 by how Marie Helene Bertino they are. And like with George Saunders, the specificities and vagueness and blurriness and vibes that we understand this author to be. This is our second one of the one of these, I guess. My first question is Bertino with for you, Rebecca. For Bertino, did this kind of make sense? Did you have kind of a divining rod sense of her that you could use, or was it harder or blurrier than you thought?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

You know, I my Marie Helene Bertino sample size is smaller than yours. I have read 2am at the Cat's Pajamas in Beautyland and this so I missed Parakeet. I have not read the debut short story collection Safe as Houses, and you not only have read all of them, but you just read all of them in close succession to each other, prepping for that interview. My sense of her, though, I do feel like, is pretty defined. There is a kind of charmingness to some of the stories, a real insightful quality to how she observes characters and just beautiful sentences. I remember, you know, liking the writing in Beauty Land and appreciating like that was one of my favorite books of that year. But there's something about the short story form that really lets her shine. There are just some killer sentences in this book and I felt like I saw her do all of the Marie Helene Bertino things. So I think about like, there will be a little bit of weirdness, but it will happen in a way that everyone treats it as totally normal. There's no like like, in one of the stories, it's literally raining men. Like this woman's ex boyfriends are falling from the sky and there's no like, oh my God, then Timmy fell in front of me. It's just like. And I was walking down Fifth Avenue and John came out and can you.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Believe this is happening? This is right.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

It's just like this is the world that we live in. And I think that sensibility that like the world we live in is weird on its own. And so that she builds in things that are fictional, you know, speculative, whatever you want to call it, to highlight the weirdness of humanity and the weirdness of reality. It's not ever weirdness for weirdnesses own sake. It's always doing something. I think that's also why it works for me that it's. That the weirdness is in service of let's talk about humanity and relationships and connection and what it is to be a person. Yeah, this was. But it was tough. I moved mine around a whole lot. Like I ended up kind of doing a heat map situation where I just like wrote a short description of a story and then I would write the short description of the next one and be like, does this one go higher or lower? And then do it the third time and does this one go higher or lower? But also like the one sentence slug lines for these stories is a great time.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Yeah, I think one of the things I again, a very good writer of prose. Plus you get the reality twist and usually it's just a small twist. It's not too much. It's like one supernatural fantastical element and it doesn't result in, you know, maybe there's. The earth is going to shatter to fall into a rift in the space time. Continue. It's really what it means for these characters and even this particular moment and they kind of play themselves out. I think that's another thing that I didn't realize about the short story collections and it happens in other books too is like this is not a thing that the character is going to deal with forever. It kind of comes and goes like the weather or a flu or just sort of around for a little while. And the. Her sense that the beauty and the terror of the world is but a fingernail scratch on the paint job of our car away is one of the things I like about it too is like this is not that the world isn't strange enough and we have to make something fantastical to care about. It's like, no, the world is weird and strange and this is a way of seeing it and understanding it and dealing with it.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

And there's like a warmth to it, which is a quality that I think she has in common with Saunders. They express them really differently. But there is a real warmth and an appreciation for the weirdness, for the humanity, like a tenderness. Maybe not a word I use a lot with a writer, but I think.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Well, I think humanity is a good. I mean their anthropology is pretty high. I mean, they're interested in people and ultimately care about people, but also know that some people are jerks and can be jerks. I think that her characters tend not to be sort of morality pigeonholed where all the good characters are good and all the bad characters are bad. That's one thing I've come to appreciate about it as well. All right, so there's 11 short stories here. 11 to one has to be the way to go, right? Yeah. Do you want to lead out? Why don't you lead off? What did you find to be the least Bertino? Least Bertino?

[Rebecca Schinsky]

The Ecstasy of Sam Malone.

[Jeff O'Neal]

Okay. Would you want me to give the pitch for that one, or would you.

[Rebecca Schinsky]

Like to give the pitch for that one? It is a woman we don't know. She seems like, younger, but we don't know how young. I would guess 20s, maybe going out for a night. She either falls asleep and has a weird dream or she's in, like, a drug trip or hallucination that puts her in a time loop of an episode of Cheers. Thanks so much for listening. Join [e-mail] bookriotpodcast to hear the rest of this episode and get access to our full back catalog of premium content. That's patreon.com bookriotpodcast.