It is hard to find fault with what is a bravura collection. Sittenfeld may demonstrate more creative risk-taking in her novels...but what she displays in her expertly crafted and hugely engaging short-form fiction is, quite simply, supremely accomplished storytelling.
There is often real wisdom at the heart of Sittenfeld’s stories, and it’s not wisdom you have to dig to find — it’s direct and plainly stated. As the old commercial used to say: Try it, you’ll like it.
Tricky territory, and Sittenfeld handles it with nuance and aplomb ... A radiant contentment pervades these stories. They are retrospective but don’t rue the passage of time. This is a writer who’s comfortable in her skin. Sittenfeld is a sharp observer of social mores and an astute judge of character, but she’s never cruel.
Her perfectly contained stories are a joy for their realistically and mundanely fractured characters, moral ambiguities, movingly related moments, and the message that even the smallest tale offers lessons to uncover.
While the lack of resolution of several entries may frustrate some readers, Sittenfeld’s candor and matter-of-factness make for compellingly intimate and at times wildly funny reading. Astute, keen-eyed musings on lives well lived—and otherwise.
