Read a master class in short story telling

“The Souvenir Museum,” by Elizabeth McCracken (Ecco)

If you’re tired of trying to pick something to watch on one of your half a dozen streaming services, maybe it’s time to read a short story instead. They may just be the perfect antidote to binge watching.

Elizabeth McCracken’s latest collection, “The Souvenir Museum,” is a good place to start. There are a dozen stories here, the longest just 26 pages. About half are previously published and four feature a couple named Sadie and Jack. Their tales don’t appear back-toback-to-back-to-back or even chronologically, so it’s a refreshing surprise to get a glimpse of their lives every few stories. We’re treated to a family wedding in Ireland, their honeymoon in Holland, a revealing episode with Sadie’s mom in Massachusetts, and their “meet cute” story involving puppets in Boston.

Short stories in general require a little more concentration compared to the slow build and wider frame of a novel. Thankfully, McCracken is adept at packing a lot of meaning into a few lines. “She knew her maternal love would always be edged with meanness, so as to matter: sometimes you needed a blade to get results,” writes McCracken in “A Walk-Through Human Heart” as a mother contemplates buying her pregnant daughter a mechanical doll that chews and excretes real food. Or back to that origin story starring Sadie and Jack (”Two Sad Clowns”): “That was the thing about being in love: you were allowed to hate things,” writes McCracken as the couple banters soon after meeting.

I could go on quoting from each story, but do yourself a favor and read the book. McCracken has delivered a lovely collection of stories loosely tied together by one theme — the bonds of family that fracture and heal as lives are led.