A review by emmareadstoomuch
Goodbye Without Leaving by Laurie Colwin

2.0

like a reverse irish exit?

anyway.

the important thing to know about this is it's a bad book written by a good writer. the characters: flimsy. their relationships: inexplicable. the plot: filled with years-long gaps to the point of being incomprehensible.

but the writing itself? the dialogue? the little jokes? excellent.

the other thing to know is that it is very weird. it's a white woman who was once a backup singer in a Black group and can't get over it. that's not much to carry us through 250 pages and it never feels any more normal.

maybe it was a different time.

bottom line: sometimes books are forgotten for a reason.

2.5