Them

by Nancy Cohen

Flummoxed. After reading Them, that’s a good word to describe how I feel.  You have the main character, Chandra Levin. Her mom died 4 months ago. Her father is seeking solace in studying the Kabbalah and Zohar. Their new neighbors appear to be 4 children without parents. Or they could be aliens. There’s a lot of strange lights over there. The 4 “children” are studying American behavior re: race, abortion, the Jonas Brothers, etc. Oh and throw in some reincarnation as well in this 96-page short story.  There’s a lot here, definite symbolism and it’s very thought-provoking. Which is why, I’m sitting here feeling flummoxed. I like Cohen’s writing, as it’s expansive with neat little threads here and there to tug on. Creative and introspective. My only complaint is that since I’m not familiar at all with the Jonas Brothers (other than they’re some sort of boy band), that part for me was a little hard to follow. The ending is going to leave me thinking for a while, and that makes for a good story.