A review by kleonard
The World Doesn't Work That Way, But It Could, Volume 1: Stories by Yxta Maya Murray

2.0

I wanted to like this book, but in the end, the stories are more like slightly-fictionalized reports, and the heavy citations--dozens of footnotes providing the real-life contexts for each story--are distracting. The writing is unpolished and awkward. It's sometimes repetitive, and is frequently heavy-handed in telling the reader about characters, events, and actions. Ultimately, it's like reading a collection of essays for an assignment: "compare and contrast the actual policies with the story. How does the story reflect the policy? Point to the specific policies referenced in the stories." A slightly more sophisticated approach would have communicated the message the author seems to be promoting far more effectively.