Goodman has written many wonderful novels, but her 11th, This Is Not About Us, is her crowning glory. So far, anyway ... No one does this shtick better than Goodman, always funny and moving, but sharp rather than sentimental, willing to leave matters as messy as they are in real life rather than tying heart-warming fictional bows ... She's the real thing.
A nimble, heartfelt, acutely written collection that forms one wonderfully cohesive unit ... It is to the benefit of us, the reader, when a talented novelist such as Goodman plays with short fiction; an opportunity to watch her be a little looser and freer, a little more open-ended.
Goodman finds the right measure of sugar in this novel-in-stories ... Mines excellent, bone-dry humor from the neuroses ... Goodman’s mature and deftly written book suggests that, in family as in art, there is no such thing as uncomplicated happiness.
Some stories in this collection are stronger than others, inevitably, and Goodman provides scant signposting of setting or season, so at the start of each chapter, a reader has to reorient ... The book is a welcome addition to any shelf of Goodman’s work. But I doubt I’m alone in eagerly awaiting her return to true novel-writing.
Astute, incisive, and soulfully witty, Goodman circulates among her irresistible characters so that each intriguing point of view reveals another facet of their tumultuous family dynamic.
An unsparingly frank, wryly funny take on a multigenerational American family ... Like an exquisitely baked apple cake, Goodman’s delicious and deeply perceptive novel is something to savor.
