Review by Booklist Review
Sittenfeld's first story collection since You Think It, I'll Say It (2019) is peopled by women and men in midlife, examining their pasts and the parts of themselves they've lost, jettisoned, or prioritized thus far. They have kids, regrets, and embarrassing little secrets; they were in marriages that ended or are in marriages that maybe should. The protagonist of "Follow-up" must ask "What is this a story about?" in her work as a corporate lawyer as she awaits a life-changing judgment in her own life. In the truly hilarious "The Hug," a husband and wife spend days discussing, to the point that they are hardly speaking, whether it would be appropriate for her to embrace an ex-boyfriend who plans to visit on his way through town during a pandemic road trip. "Given that there's not much difference between hugging him and not hugging him, how about not doing it?" the husband suggests. Sittenfeld can describe midlife romance as more like "an essential recognition," and it does sound pretty romantic. Her perfectly contained stories are a joy for their realistically and mundanely fractured characters, moral ambiguities, movingly related moments, and the message that even the smallest tale offers lessons to uncover.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Sittenfeld (Romantic Comedy) zooms in on urban Midwesterners dealing with middle-aged disillusions in this witty story collection. The protagonists, who skew liberal and are often blind to their upper-middle-class privilege, bumble into sticky situations. In "A for Alone," set in 2017, floundering artist Irene conducts a project involving a series of lunch dates with men, after which she asks them to fill out a questionnaire about the "Mike Pence rule," a reference to Pence's refusal to spend time alone with a woman other than his wife. "The Hug," which takes place in the summer of 2020, starts with the flimsiest of premises: Daphne, a St. Louis accountant, tells her husband she plans to hug her ex-boyfriend when he visits them during a road trip from Montana. But with Covid raging, a hug is not just a hug; Daphne plans to isolate from her family for six days afterward. As the couple discuss the plan, they're forced to examine their assumptions about intimacy and faithfulness. In "Lost But Not Forgotten," Sittenfeld revisits Lee Fiora, the protagonist of her 2005 novel Prep, as Lee attends her high school class's 30-year reunion. In one sparkling comedy of manners after another, the author documents with a clear and affectionate eye how tiny prejudices and blind spots lead her protagonists astray. These stories entertain and unsettle in equal measure. (Feb.)
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