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keight's review against another edition
5.0
classic collection of short stories, I keenly felt while reading this how many stories I’ve read that have emulated the witty absurdity of Lorrie Moore. But while there may be a layer of quirkiness on top of her writing, not far underneath are more complex, melancholy themes: grief, loneliness, anxiety, illness. The last story “Wonderful Mother” is about a woman who is handed a friend’s baby at a barbecue, loses her balance, and drops the baby — a fatal accident. In her resulting pathological guilt, she marries a professor, who she seems at most ambivalent about, and then goes with him on an academic retreat in Italy. It may sound like a beautiful escape, but instead every night she struggles to make conversation with the other academics, who generally lose interest when they realize she is merely a spouse. Her attempts to maintain their interest get zanier as the nights progress. Read more on my booklog
zhzhang's review against another edition
4.0
Some books are more likely to be enjoyed when you hold the actual book and read the text, and some books are the other way around - audio book with a great narrator could give you a totally different experience and you could just emerge yourself into the narration. For me, usually I prefer the latter, cause I need to walk my dog and do the chores and cooking. Yet, this book, I believe I could have enjoyed a lot more if I read it with text. I might come back to read the paper book. Each protagonist in different story is so different, which reflect all aspects of life you can imagine.
joelletribbiani's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kittoo's review against another edition
5.0
every story slapped in this collection. how did you do that. mothership.
iguana_mama's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
gajeam's review against another edition
4.0
Moore is unequivocally one of our best fiction writers, but I only had the strength to stare into the bleak abyss of life and the inevitable demise of love for about two hundred pages.
jadom's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
holdenn93's review against another edition
4.0
Writing stories that are inherently minimalist in their style and setting, Moore focuses on introspection and exploration, foggy minded every day people just going from place to place, talking to people, looking out the window, thinking about their relationships, coping with grief and falling out of touch with their spouses, sharing conversations in hotel rooms and in dining halls with academics who dont like screenwriters (Moore's slightly random scenarios are pretty funny). She explores characters who navigate through trauma and maintaining relationships, telling stories of characters who fluctuate between emotionally distancing and intimate closeness with the people in their lives. All the while the writing is loaded with abstract and even slightly bizarre trains of thought to help us understand how the characters think and navigate their relationships. All round a decent read.
zoeheller's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
biblestudy10's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0