This was an interesting novel, in which not all the characters are real, but while it is clear something is 'off', it is not obvious till the end which characters are imaginary. In this story a woman imagines herself companions to make up for her otherwise lonely life, after her relationship with Gerard goes pear-shaped. I found it hard to really relate to Benna, the protagonist of this story, but I liked the concept of making up imaginary friends as an adult. I had to wonder how many people in real life do something similar. I think I prefer Moore's short stories still, so far, but this was a decent, fast-reading novel, and I would recommend it as such. I like that Moore's characters in this book are not just young people, so at least for parts of this book the characters were about my age and their issues were more similar to my own as a no-longer-YA reader. ( )

Lorrie Moore has done it again; she has completed blown me away and created a world of which I envy and enjoy. Amazing depiction of character, love, loss, the insanity of living life and getting lost along the way. ( )

I love books with intricate word play and terrible jokes. I loved this book! ( )

I love Lorrie Moore and her lonely but humorous style, but in the end, the format of this book didn't work for me. The idea of each story being an anagram of the other was very clever, but I wasn't sure why she chose the story she did to make up the bulk of the book. It didn't seem any more realistic or engaging than the others. It was just more depressing. Part of my reaction is my personal taste; I'm all for melancholic books, but after all of the humor in the story, I felt like the end was just too dismal. ( )

I really did not know what to expect from this novel, but I ended up finding it fascinating. Moore's wordplay is great, and when your main character is a poetry teacher, the wordplay easily fits into the story. The title is also a clue to this book. It's not a novel, it's not short stories. A life as an anagram might be the best way to describe it. ( )