A review by sarahlreadseverything
A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin

1.0

I purchased A Manual for Cleaning Women in November 2017 after it was mentioned on a couple of podcasts I listened to, and started reading it almost immediately. . . . it's telling that I've finished it in August 2022 . . . and only then because one of my reading goals for this year was to read all the books languishing on my kindle that I'd paid money for. Even with my reading goal in mind, it was the last book on a list of 17 that I got to, and I would have DNF if it wasn't for the fact that my various attempts at it over the years had already got me past 50% and it seemed a shame not to finish it out.

I admit it improved slightly in the last third as the interlinks between the stories that draw them into a more cohesive narrative became more obvious, but on the whole I'd sum up this collection as 'plotless ramblings'.