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A review by chelseamartinez
Fight No More: Stories by Lydia Millet
3.0
Seems appropriate that I checked out this book---short stories about people intersecting with the Los Angeles real estate market---from the Palm Springs library; it seemed like the whole library itself was happy enough to cater to an LA visitor contingent, which is very nice of them (and they had a LOT of new fiction; money definitely does flow to Palm Springs via LA, but I wouldn't expect/haven't encountered the same level of friendliness with my LA driver's license in the OC, where that is also true!)
Anyhow, these stories have that format that screenwriters love (see Crash, Short Cuts, Pulp Fiction); a series of detailed glimpses into the lives of individuals with whom we cross paths one or two or three times later. I thought I was the first person to check this book out, as the dust jacket was pristine, but on one of the first pages, someone wrote, in pen, in cursive, "what a useless book this is". Rude, right? Like, what book of short stories would satisfy the person who would do this in a library book?
Anyhow, the book only veers into an Aimee Bender-ish HGTV-magical realism in one story, and when that part comes back later it reminds you how that part sticks out a bit awkwardly. Still, it was interesting to see how by the third time some characters returned I felt a real fondness toward them.
Anyhow, these stories have that format that screenwriters love (see Crash, Short Cuts, Pulp Fiction); a series of detailed glimpses into the lives of individuals with whom we cross paths one or two or three times later. I thought I was the first person to check this book out, as the dust jacket was pristine, but on one of the first pages, someone wrote, in pen, in cursive, "what a useless book this is". Rude, right? Like, what book of short stories would satisfy the person who would do this in a library book?
Anyhow, the book only veers into an Aimee Bender-ish HGTV-magical realism in one story, and when that part comes back later it reminds you how that part sticks out a bit awkwardly. Still, it was interesting to see how by the third time some characters returned I felt a real fondness toward them.