Reviews

I have been meaning to read Lorrie Moore pretty much for years because she's always mentioned by my favorite writers as an influence and her stories seem like the kind of quiet, quirky vignettes that I always go out of my way to read. There is definitely plenty of dark humor here and it's obvious that Moore is an enormously talented writer, and I wouldn't rule out checking out another one of her collections in the future.
For me, Moore's writing is the kind that I can marvel at technically but I don't ever get fully invested. Beyond the story "People Like That Are the Only People Here" which is emotional for reasons that immediately become obvious, I didn't really get lost in any of the stories.
I'm glad to have read this collection, because I can really see how she has influenced some of my favorite writers, it just didn't affect me as much as I would have liked.

smbla's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Lorrie Moore does an excellent job of exhibiting our flaws in a very painful yet acceptable narrative. Themes of loss, betrayal, infidelity and anger are handled deftly and each vignette feels complete-although I did occasionally have to put the stories down and take a deep breath. She has the talent to cut a little to close to the heart of the matter and as the reader I found I at times wanted to push back and ask for the traditional Happily Ever After. Like Bark I appreciated the use of birds as a narrative link in the stories whether it was actual birds, associated sounds or symbolic elements. As in her previous works that I have read-she stays with you and causes you to evaluate motivations and responses.

carmelitasita's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

I was bored. I finally realized I was skipping whole paragraphs just to get to the end of each short story decided to stop reading then and there. Nothing seems to happen. People are sad and think about their sadness. Yawn.

stylemecourt's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This book is entirely about middle aged women facing troubles in their love life and work. Not only do they face those troubles but many of them also tend to be unhappy with themselves and their current lives so they move on to another city hoping to make amends with their life, only to dive further into the deep end and recognizing they still hold many other problems. The book is very sarcastic most of the women are lonely and jump to irrational conclusions like drinking and having babies just because something is wrong in their life. Overall the stories are depressing none of them have a decent ending (mainly because the endings are jumbled and it's really unclear what happens). If you are prone to depression or a woman going through menopause, do not read this. It may make you drown in self loathing and regret your life decisions thus far, in their entirety.

More...