A review by sydneyluvsares
The State We're In: Maine Stories by Ann Beattie

2.0

Imagery: Good
Character Development: Fair
Style: Great

Overall: Blah.

Ann Beattie is just not for me. I think the book title is misleading. It would be more accurate to call these "stories" prose/free-writing. The first 5 stories, which is what I read, seemed like first drafts. Maybe second drafts... but I can't imagine any further doctoring was implemented.

If you like weird little snapshots of life that really don't tell a story so much as give you a brief movie reel-like flicker of a story, maybe you'd enjoy this book.