I think short story collections are underrated. These books sit on library shelves, passed over time and again for a novel, but the narrative snobbery is unfounded.Or maybe not. Some of the stories in this collection by Lorrie Moore I loved and can't wait to read again. Some of these stories I was continually flipping through to see how many pages were left. However, when Lorrie Moore is on, she is so on. She is able to portray seemingly ordinary people with such wonderful attention to detail that they practically leap off the page. The word play is tremendous and witty and humorous, though sometimes gets a little out of hand and gives off a "look at me, I'm so clever" vibe.
While I appreciate the melancholy of every day life and not necessarily happily ever after endings, by the end of this collection, I was ready for something more upbeat. The second last story, "People Like That Are the Only People Here: Canonical Babbling in Peed Onk" (makes sense after you've read it, sort of) follows the parents of a baby who has cancer. I mean, come on. A baby with cancer. It's hard to read and hard to put down, a combination that yields unsettling results. However, the emotion in it is so real that the story itself practically aches.
I think Moore is at her best when portraying the modern romance as seen in stories such as "Willing", "Community Life", and "Terrific Mother". The dysfunctional couple archetype is blown apart and treated with an empathy rarely found.
These stories are beautiful, sad and funny at the same time. Moore goes on my list of authors to keep an eye out for.
