His fiction having appeared in Prairie Schooner, Confrontation, Painted Bride Quarterly, and dozens of other literary magazines over the last three decades, E.G. Silverman now releases his first full-length book of short stories, featuring an array of memorable characters thrust into unique and intriguing circumstances, told in his unsparingly honest, raw voice. Fans of Richard Ford and Jim Harrison will feel right at home in these stories.

Midwest Book Review:

The titular story in E.G. Silverman’s collection features a third-year university student named Albert who, when asked by the professor of a seminar in Contemporary Fiction why he signed up for the class, responds with complete honesty: his football teammates assured him that it would be “a gut,” that is, “an easy one. One that doesn’t take a lot of work.”

The snooty professor invites the other students to mock Albert, but when a brainy young woman named Brandi is asked to give her reason for being there, she defends Albert’s response as being perfectly in sync with the principles of the seminar:  

“At its essence, the craft of fiction is employing artifice as a tool to synthesize honesty. The whole point of inventing stories is to forge a convincing method of demonstrating a verity. Which brings us to the observation that as we’ve gone around the room today, only one of us has been honest…” 

The narrative fast-forwards. After decades of marriage, Brandi is being consumed by cancer while Albert is wracked with guilt because Brandi’s alteration secretly disgusts him. The story ends with the two of them having an unconventional and unforgettable conversation about the theme of the story—complete truth—that is equal parts startling, moving, and beautiful. 

One might say that Silverman’s entire collection follows this theme. Not all his stories are as brilliantly structured or as moving as “Your Only Best Hope,” but they all represent on some level what the character, Brandi, expounds when she says, “What makes contemporary fiction different and appealing is its honesty.” Whether it’s a young bartender in a dead town begging her older depressed divorced lover to make her a permanent part of his life; a rock star at a local pizza place, toying with fans who aren’t sure if he is who he seems to be; or an aimless widower living in an island paradise previously chosen by his wife and himself, Silverman’s characters all experience epiphanies; some startling, others ordinary, but all of them realistic. 

Silverman’s opening lines are also worth mentioning for their attention-grabbing power. For instance, consider the first line of “Beacon Home”: 

“Bush Jr. is President, the housing market is booming with no end in sight, Iraq is a disaster, and I’m about to have breakfast with the first woman I had sex with, thirty-some years since I last saw or spoke to her.” 

Or “To Smile in a Dream”:

“As Karl Garland walked the beach, it was a glorious day, and he knew he should be happy.”

“Your Only Best Hope” is a quietly brilliant set of tales illuminating the discovery of truth in the lives of ordinary people. 

Your Only Best Hope is a provocative short story collection filled with sharp insights into the lives of aging men.

In E. G Silverman’s introspective short story collection Your Only Best Hope, middle-aged men reckon with the complexities of their desires as they reflect on choices they made—and ones they evaded.

Their narration sparse, these stories focus on middle- to upper-class men exploring the contours of their sexualities and relationships. They confront the grievances, joys, and regrets that shaped their lives. In “Court,” a random disaster at the courthouse compels a new divorcé to rethink his choices. In “Private Equity,” an aging venture capitalist bumps into his favorite rock star, giving him a chance to recontextualize his past and reconnect with his lost freedom, creativity, and drive. The story’s sharp conversations and keen observations highlight the protagonist’s internal struggle; his nostalgia for a time when life felt more vibrant is juxtaposed to the stark realities of aging and disillusionment. These themes are explored throughout the collection, including in “Your Only Best Hope,” in which desperate Albert attempts to reestablish a sense of control as his wife faces the final stages of terminal cancer.

Many stories involve men either reconnecting with lost loves or finding themselves tempted to pursue young women who reinvigorate their sense of youth and vitality. Sexuality, infidelity, and the choice between stability and passion are addressed from a variety of perspectives, as men weigh the risks of caving to the mounting pressure of repressed or denied desires. In the throes of loss, divorce, and midlife crises, the men encounter people and places that give them a chance to reflect and reinvestigate pivotal moments and relationships.

The men are sometimes so similar that the stories become repetitive, though on an individual level, their characterizations are nuanced and morally complex. Their interior lives and desires are explored with humor and gritty realism. The book’s women, however, are not afforded the same interiority and complexity. Almost without exception, they are cast as controlling wives or young seductresses, with their motivations sidelined or underdeveloped.

The prose is clear and compelling, describing the characters’ conflicted thoughts and emotions with clarity against their social, domestic, and civic environments. The sentences are punchy and direct, though they also capture quiet, unspoken tensions. In particular, the book’s descriptions of sexuality, though blunt, are honest, often darkly funny, and effective.

Your Only Best Hope is a striking short story collection filled with raw, unvarnished looks into the lives of men navigating the turbulence of middle age.

Reviewed by Bella Moses
August 3, 2026