Much as Theodore Carter's title sea blob proves a challenge to classify, the other matters of importance in this, the author's debut, story collection emerge as equally amorphous and downright slippery when it comes to categorization. Yet, fleshy narrative makes indexing possible by way of a catalogue of characters who aren't simply arranged, but rarities that act-largely at great personal risk. From the competitive eater working against an internal clock to a disengaged young man beguiled by an animate voodoo doll, from a junior-high water-walker to an eyebrow arsonist, the affable oddities of The Life Story of a Chilean Sea Blob and Other Matters of Importance confront doubt in its multifarious forms, establishing classification-organized into engaging, compelling, and affecting-as tantamount to the anomalous lives we lead.