A review by ben_miller
Not Where I Started from by Kate Wheeler

3.0

Of the 10 stories in this collection, I think about 4 of them are terrific. The others have their moments, but the middle 4 stories: "Mr. Peanut," "La Victoire," "Urbino," and "Judgment" stood out. Wheeler's prose, at its best, is funny, aggressive and unique. When the stories fail, it's because of the absence of a central tension, not because of the writing. I read this with my fiction students; it was a great book to learn from.