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A review by goosemixtapes
Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? by Kathleen Collins
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
i need to reread this sometime when i am not crunching all 175 pages in the span of a few days for class because every short story in this collection deserves more focus than i'm able to give it rn. that said, my favorite atm are "only once," "when love withers all of life cries," and "broken spirit"
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2024 update: have reread slower. kathleen collins is still a genius. i’m fascinated by the way she approaches short stories, because most of them don’t have much story at all—they’re more like sketches of a character, a scene, a relationship, brief and almost intangible but nevertheless vivid and elegant and beautiful. “only once” and “broken spirit” are still my favorites—the latter is my strongest memory from the first read and for good reason—but this time around, the titular story sang for me as well. it really encapsulates all the best aspects of collins’ writing—smart, brooding, witty, still relevant, and full of the flashing color of a thousand lives glimpsed ever so briefly.
--
2024 update: have reread slower. kathleen collins is still a genius. i’m fascinated by the way she approaches short stories, because most of them don’t have much story at all—they’re more like sketches of a character, a scene, a relationship, brief and almost intangible but nevertheless vivid and elegant and beautiful. “only once” and “broken spirit” are still my favorites—the latter is my strongest memory from the first read and for good reason—but this time around, the titular story sang for me as well. it really encapsulates all the best aspects of collins’ writing—smart, brooding, witty, still relevant, and full of the flashing color of a thousand lives glimpsed ever so briefly.