Publishers are shying away from short story collections — they’re out of vogue and just don’t sell as well as novels. So it didn’t go unnoticed that Nam Le’s first book, The Boat, doesn’t go out of its way to announce it’s a collection of short stories. Perhaps this shrewd marketing ploy had something to do with The Boat finding its way into reviewers’ hands. However, the work ended up on a myriad of bestseller lists and critics everywhere are positively salivating over it because it is absolutely immaculate.

The book covers an impressive geographical and emotional range — four continents, one ocean and one atomic bomb. Each of the seven stories is richer and more powerful than the average short story. So much so that The Boat could easily be considered a collection of fully developed novellas. Le does not take the lazy way out and try to gloss over the very details that add credence and authenticity to his tales. When an aristocrat orders a meal, it is spiced squab pastrami and sea-urchin panna cotta. When a young Columbian assassin fears for his life, his heart pounds “pá pá pá” and he questions if he could really be a loyal soldado. The amount of research involved in such a collection must have been staggering, but it was well worth the effort.

In the opening story, “Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice,” we are introduced to Le’s fictional alter ego, Nam, a young writer and student living in Idaho. What begins as a tale of everyday frustrations as Nam tries to meet deadlines, appease his girlfriend and accommodate his traditional father, becomes a tale of suffocating obligation and deep-seated family anguish.

In “Meeting Elise,” we find a hemorrhoidal artist suffering from filial heartbreak, romantic loss and a faltering career. He yearns to reconnect with his estranged daughter but has to accept that she may not want to meet with him, and his most intimate relationship might just be with his gastroenterologist.

At only 29, Le exhibits a talent that belies his years and would humble some of the most seasoned writers. It is a powerful and stirring first work.