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A review by gadicohen93
Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
4.0
Moore's writing style is on point. That is: She serves almost every story on a needlepoint, with puns and jokes so barbed and twisted, and a sense of tragedy so mundanely wrought and heinous in its pedestrianism, that you can't help but feel like a thread being spun and strapped into her characters' lives. Her voice seems to present a defeated outrage at the meaninglessness of the world; her characters -- mostly sad women overcoming personal traumas and long stretches of mediocrity -- go through life with observations and feelings you can't help but understand in your gut.
Of course, that is only Moore at her best. While the majority of stories prod and needle you along, some stories are pointless. What seems like an extraordinarily powerful writing style in some parts -- an absurd, seemingly almost arbitrary choice of words and lines that chisel away at profound insights -- can feel deafening and, worse, exhaustingly lifeless at other parts. I had to skip the majority of one story here that I wasn't really feeling.
But hers is such a unique style that I can't say that I didn't deeply enjoy this book. This is the second time reading "People Like This," and it only got better the second time. Other stories are less memorable, but still powerful in the same sort of stinging, incisive way.
Of course, that is only Moore at her best. While the majority of stories prod and needle you along, some stories are pointless. What seems like an extraordinarily powerful writing style in some parts -- an absurd, seemingly almost arbitrary choice of words and lines that chisel away at profound insights -- can feel deafening and, worse, exhaustingly lifeless at other parts. I had to skip the majority of one story here that I wasn't really feeling.
But hers is such a unique style that I can't say that I didn't deeply enjoy this book. This is the second time reading "People Like This," and it only got better the second time. Other stories are less memorable, but still powerful in the same sort of stinging, incisive way.