Short Story Review: "A Hand Reached Down to Guide Me" by David Gates

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The narrator of this story recounts meeting Paul Thompson, a mandolin player of some repute among bluegrass musicians. Thompson compliments him on his singing, something he finds flattering because, unlike Paul, he and most of the guys in the various bands he played with are “weekend pickers.” Time goes on. The narrator finishes grad school, finds a teaching position and works on a book. His wife gets accepted to culinary school. They keep chickens. Paul Thompson sails in and out of their lives, each time with a new girlfriend. One day, he stops by with a request for a favor he has no right to ask. He asks nevertheless, and the narrator and his wife accede. This is a story about friendship, and bit of hero worship, and loss, and ultimately, the frailty of the human condition. It is nicely told. It’s almost like life. You read a bit and ten years have passed. What happened? Weren’t we all just kids a little while ago? This is a good, if not always pleasant, little story. In 2015, it was collected with other works of the author’s and released in a volume with the same title. I could not find an online copy. _____ Title: “A Hand Reached Down to Guide Me” Published in: Best American Short Stories 2014 First Published: Granta No. 126 Author: David Gates (b. 1947) *An earlier version of the review appeared on another site. It has been updated and expanded for its inclusion in myLot*