A Review of Kulkuri (Vagabond) and Other Stories by Mark Munger

I lived in Puerto Rico back in 1978-79. During that time I did prison ministry once a week, which brought me into contact with a lot of people who had very interesting stories. Upon returning to the States, I pulled together a number of these into an outline for a novel. Writing fiction seemed like a good way to explore and reveal people's experiences that were very different from my own. 

I begin this review with that anecdote because I suspect that as a former trial attorney and district judge here in the Northland, author Mark Munger had intimate exposure to a hundred times as many lives and stories as I, many of them startling and unusual that would be had to imagine.

Kulkuri (Vagabond) and Other Short Stories, is Munger's second collection of short fiction. Published in 2020 by Cloquet River Press, I found his book at the Duluth Public Library on a shelf featuring local authors. It wasn't long before I drew two early conclusions. Mark Munger is a serious writer. He's also an impressive wordsmith. 

Though he has been primarily a novelist, he is likewise adept at short-form fiction. Someone once described the. novel as a short story in baggy clothes. I liked that. The best short stories are tight, compact and pack a punch. Munger has clearly honed his craft and has good instincts as regards pacing.

He is also not afraid to takes chances and try new things. There's no formula in his storycrafting. The singular thread in this stories is a sense of place, Northern Minnesota, with its geography, history and people.

As a writer I pay close attention to opening sentences, whether they be stories or novels. The first story here opens with "I stand thigh deep in the cold embrace of the Brule seeking forgiveness." Clearly something has happened. And you're invited in. It reveals a bit about the narrator as well, a fisherman.

Kulkuri (Vagabond), the title story and second in this collection, begins, "They call me Electric Jerry but my given name is Jorma." The manner in which Munger becomes his characters is striking and uncanny, especially in this story. 

Hemingway's Mistress, the third story, opens with "It started when I fell in love with his words." This story veers in a direction you don't expect, but how can it not? 

Though the stories are fiction, one wonders how many portions are secretly fragments of a self-portrait. This sentence here could summarize how I myself became determined to excel as a writer. 

The centerpiece is a novellas called The Angle. Again, the opening sentence does a masterful job of pulling you in while establishing a sense of place. "She lived in the Northwest Angle; that little protrusion of Minnesota shoving itself like a bully's thumb into Canada's eye." It's a tragic love story with some vivid, carefully crafted moments that one wants to revisit just to see how he pulled them off.

The latter batch of stories--seven in all--include two award winners, Isle Royale and Threshold. Some of the stories draw upon his Finnish American heritage. Other provide readers with a true sense of the challenges of our region and the people who inhabit it.

It's apparent from the quantity of books he's published that Mark Munger is both passionate about and dedicated to his craft. When not writing, Munger enjoys hunting, fishing, skiing, and contributing book reviews and interviews to his website, www.cloquetriverpress.com, and the Finnish American Reporter. 

This link to his Amazon authors page with give you a pretty good snapshot of his impressive output. If you prefer to buy local, Zenith Books in West Duluth will happily order books for you.

EdNote: Kulkuri mean Vagabond in Finnish.