THE ANTHOLOGIST SINCE 1927 THE LITERARY AND FINE ARTS JOURNAL OF RUTGERS COLLEGE R E V I E W Adrift in a Vanishing City [1998] By Vincent Czyz Review by Ian MacAllen Drifting through these stories, the aptly titled, first collection by Czyz, peers into the lives of several characters. The text is as thick as pea soup-burdensome to read casually, but beautiful. Czyz abandons some conventions such as quotation marks. Also, the stories' narrators are changed up, despite the fact the collection follows, roughly, the same story line. Combining these three elements makes the collection difficult to follow, though individually they are fine. Czyz is also somewhat confused as to whether he is writing abstract poetry or short fiction. If he cut a third of the words, he'd have a great poem. While the characters do inspire curiosity, they are not really challenged. As the title explains, they really are adrift. I was left wondering about their past-but they persist to be interesting. They are the kind of people you stop and stare at when sitting at a Diner, just to watch and hope to learn more, but never do. Bottom line: An excellent first collection by a man who clearly has talent. If you are looking for a casual read, go elsewhere. But its unique style is worth picking through some month in January when you have nothing else to do.