A review by arielamandah
Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiny

3.0

3.5 stars. I picked up this book through the library because a reviewer (an author I enjoy) wrote about how funny she thought it was. Not the best reason to pick up a book, sure, but we all operate on those funny flights of fancy. So, yeah. First off, I'm not sure I felt like this book was especially funny - but that's a small thing. I also didn't realize, upon starting it, that it was a series of stories all centered around the unifying theme of infidelity. Some had more depth than others (the Maya story "about" her dog Bailey was wonderful), but the central conceit of two-timing ran dry for me fairly quickly. Rather than an exploration, it felt reductive - like a collection of writing exercises that then went up for publication. Heiny has a deft way of crafting character and dialogue. These stories were extremely readable - but I just kept hoping they'd go a different direction than they did. Perhaps there's a life lesson or analogy in there somewhere about infidelity? Ultimately, I walked away from this book wondering what, in the end, it added to me and my life. Not sure I've found that resonance just yet.