A friend recommended this one. It is a book of (longish) short stories. Nine all together. I preferred the ones that had a female point of view Lohrey does a great job of getting inside her character’s heads and writing their innermost thoughts – like the sexual fantasy in ‘Primates’. The stories felt very real (I wonder if some are her own experiences or maybe her friends?)
One thing I’ve been noticing lately is dialogue. If it seems wooden and unrealistic, then I’m jolted out of the story. Like the Mills&Boon elements to The Discovery of Witches. That didn’t happen with this book, so I must conclude that the dialogue was good.
I seem to be far more articulate about what I don’t like then what I do like – the things that put me off reading seem to stand out whereas it is hard to catch the good things in the act – definitely something to work on. I’m looking forward to reading more of Lohrey’s work.
You can listen to an Interview with Amanda Lohrey.