A story of growing up and growing old, the weight of parental expectations, and the complex connection between sisters—a book about the love that binds a family across generations.
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.
When I finished This Is Not About Us — I kid you not — I read it a second time, just to savor all the interconnections, all the shifts in family members' opinions of each other ... The 17 chapters of This Is Not About Us can stand as independent stories, but they accrue power from the subtle ways in which they alter our initial impressions of family members.
