Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiny
Title: Single, Carefree, Mellow
Author: Katherine Heiny
Pages: 221
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Genre: Short Stories
Source: Personal Copy
Format: Paperback
Review (back of book)
Maya is in love with both her boyfriend and her boss. Sadie’s lover calls her as he drives to meet his wife at marriage counseling. Josie has to deal with her ex - a man she met on Facebook - falling in love with a woman he found on Twitter. An unnamed teenager loses her virginity to her history teacher and then outgrows him. Nina is more worried that the Presbyterian minister living in her garage will her her kids swearing than about him finding out that she’s sleeping with her running partner.
These are the women of Single, Carefree, Mellow and in these eleven sublime stories they are grappling with unwelcome house guests, disasterous birthday parties, needy but loyal friends, and all manner of love, secrets, and betrayal.
In snappy, glittering prose that is both utterly hilarious and archingly poignant, Katherine Heiny chronicles the ways in which we are unfaithful to each other, both willfully and unwittingly. Maya, who we meet in the title story and again in various states of live, forms the spine of this linked collection, and shows us through her moments of pleasure, loss, deceit and kindness just how fickle the human heart can be.
Review
I thought this collection of short stories was great. Short stories are a thing I got into a few years ago and I find them to be a perfect pairing or recovery to a heavier literary fiction.
I’m always impressed by the talent it takes to write a good short story. In very few pages, you need to really give the reader a sense of who the characters are and what their lives are like. In that department, this book really delivers. I was immediately immersed in each of these stories. Each of these women are at a crossroads, and Katherine Heiny made it very easy to slip into their lives.
As I wrote above, this book is definitely about women in the middle of romantic turmoil. I found it interesting and refreshing to read about people who are going through moments in their lives that are not necessarily perfect. Every story was interesting and every story was unique. Highly recommend!
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