Reviews

I fully expected to enjoy this collection after reading the first three stories, but as I read on, I found that the definite majority of the stories are about marital discord -- usually the wife deciding she is unsatisfied in her marriage because of subtle growing apart reasons, amidst routine nights of watching Charlie's Angels and serving some very 80's recipes. Then she goes and does something really wild at the end to symbolize her new freedom. I found this collection to be both dated and disappointing as a whole, for being a whole lot of the same thing. (Understand that in small doses, I really like the thing that Bobbie Ann Mason does. But not one right after the other.)

jdgcreates's review against another edition

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3.0

Well-written stories that give a glimpse into life in the South, for better or worse, and that were perfect palate cleansers between novels!

jamiereadthis's review

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4.0

These were really something. Not too much of a weak one in the lot. My current favorite: Georgeann, the malcontent preacher’s wife, happy with her lousy chickens and playing Space Invaders in the basement. (Sorry, not Space Invaders. The Galaxians. Space Invaders is the better game, says the trucker, because things come at you head-on.)

And then there’s Mary and her dentist in “Residents and Transients,” and Nancy Culpupper twice over, and… and…

How I’d describe these stories, actually: if the gentler Larry Brown (think A Miracle of Catfish; all the Sam parts of Fay) wrote Drive-By Truckers songs.

The incongruities, secrets, and hidden depths in people, here’s a book full of them.

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