Reviews

Ways to Spend the Night by Pamela Painter

toniclark's review against another edition

5.0

Really wonderful writing. After vowing to dole out these stories to myself, one at a time, like rich and coveted treats, I devoured the book in one swift, fantastic, glorious feast. Fortunately, they can be enjoyed again and again. The stories are full of troubled relationships, losses, longings, and sometimes recoveries. I know as much about these characters as I do some of my friends. My favorites stories here were “Reading in His Wake,” “Grief” (which had me holding my breath through the whole thing), and the title story, “Ways to Spend the Night.” But I really enjoyed all of them. Painter’s dialogue is always pitch perfect. The stories are full of concrete and finely tuned details, a specificity that anchors us in a real and believable world and always leave me wondering “how does she know all this stuff?” I suspect the answer is a lifetime of close observation, attention, and research. And she really knows how to do endings! Pam Painter is a master of the form.