Like Life: Stories

"I just love the irreverent stories of Lorrie Moore, who brings an acerbic wit and lightness of touch to even the darkest subject matter. In my opinion, her greatest gift lies in her sharp characterisation, in which she captures in a few deft sentences an entire personhood of a type you might meet in the street—flawed and wrongheaded and yet lovable for all their quirks. Those skills are displayed beautifully in her very funny short story ‘You’re Ugly, Too,’ whose protagonist Zoë Hendricks, a history professor at a liberal arts college in Illinois, who—single and directionless, and full of disdain for her Midwestern students and colleagues—struggles to find purpose and meaning. “You know,” one date tells her, “I just shouldn’t try to go out with career women. You’re all stricken.” Is she a pleasant character? Not really. Is she ridiculous? Yes, a little. But the wry humour with which she wreathes her desperation is completely compelling—just as Moore so brilliantly leavens her otherwise shattering account of the parents of a baby being treated for cancer in her famous story ‘ People Like That Are the Only People Here .’ Also recommended: Birds of America by Lorrie Moore"