Like reading a train-wreck. Generally disliked the predictable disappointing characters, which made it hard to enjoy this book so full of emotion. ( )

stories: The Shared Patio / The Swim Team / Majesty / The Man on the Stairs / The Sister / This Person / It Was Romance / Something That Needs Nothing / I Kiss a Door / The Boy from Lam Kien / Making Love in 2003 / Ten True Things / The Moves / Mon Plaisir / Birthmark / How to Tell Stories to Children

I feel like I say this a lot about contemporary short stories, but it still applies: these are vignettes more than stories. They're compelling, and there are turns of phrase and passages I really loved and will return to...but they just end. This can be really frustrating. I'm starting to think anthologies of this ilk should come with a warning label. All this aside, there's some good writing here. My personal favorite from this collection has to be "Majesty." ( )

I like Miranda July's style a lot. And I finally read the story that Ashley has been telling me about for years "Making Love in 2003" which is good. Something about the detached-ness of the characters though makes me feel detached and kind of hate them. Which might be what is wrong with my first book. Like, if the character is angry and alone, you kind of are like, "Well, bully for you, why don't you try a little harder." That's kind of how I feel about Miranda July. Except that I think she is smart and is trying to do something complex with those detached, lonely characters. It's just really hard to do. ( )

Miranda July reminds me of the rapper who does the best guest spots on other people's albums, but a whole album just gets a bit repetitive. I began the collection thoroughly laughing. But the more I read, the more I felt I was laughing at, rather than with the characters which led to my feeling uncomfortable about the whole situation. Maybe that's the point. Either way - -she's got talent, it just gets a bit overbearing. ( )

There were some laugh out loud moments, but I mostly didn't like it. I thought a lot of the sex was unnecessary and didn't serve the stories very well. And I think three of the stories used the same device where someone would wait in an exact location until the person that spurned them returned. It was strange. ( )