A review by ambassadorfae
Anagrams by Lorrie Moore

5.0

I was just reading an interview with the author where she said that this book got so many bad reviews that she had to stop reading them. That made me sad. Wherever she may be, I would like her to know that it has been a favorite of mine since I first read it in 1991. I was 20 years old. It astonished me with its creativity, intelligence, richness of detail, clever wordplay and zany humor. I had never seen anything like it. And I had read everything. Particularly the classics! I was an English major in addition to a lifelong bibliophile. I read French literature in the original French. I read philosophy for fun. In my mind, today's bestselling authors should have mandatory and strict lessons with Professor Moore. They need her help. What I didn't recognize at the time is the cynical streak in her writing. While I don't like it, I also can't fault anyone for it. Life makes us all cynical after a while. There are no permanent cures for it, but some temporary measures can last a long time. These include sex with a bearded madman in a tent (especially in the rain), carb-loading in a foreign country while watching snow fall on a lighted bridge, surviving an up-close encounter with a wild animal, and certain strains of soft harp music.