Barbara the Slut and Other People

Despite the salacious title, "Barbara the Slut" is not about sex. This book of 10 short stories is about the human condition -- relationships between siblings, parent/child relationships, life cross-roads, job stresses and more. Sure, sex plays a role -- to a varying degree -- in many of the stories, but it's not the central theme. Those hoping for pages of steamy love scenes will be disappointed.

I loved Holmes's style and wondered why I don't read short stories more often, as it's a powerful genre. In this collection Holmes delivers "slice of life" stories of people in completely different situations. There's not a lot of background at the start of her stories, nor are there tidy endings. I see in other reviews this is driving some show more readers batty, but it didn't bother me. Each of the characters in the stories is so distinct, that Holmes does not need to rely on plot in order for the story to be fulfilling. There was enough plot to satisfy, while having the characters drive each piece forward. It was a refreshing change from the confines of many novels I usually read.

4 stars. show less

I'm not going to tell you that this book wasn't any fun to read. And I'm not going to tell you that it's title isn't funny. But I'm also not going to tell you that the stories in this one are particularly noteworthy or memorable. Holmes does one thing right: a sort of cool, detached irony that plays out in specifically female-oriented contexts (babysitting gigs, high school sexual politics, a short-term job at a clinic). I'm always glad to find more evidence that, despite British people's claims to the contrary, Americans really pull off irony on stage or just in text.

Not only is the tone of these books too samey, their content often is, too. They all seem to focus on vaguely frustrated young women in that in-between sage that, for show more many in the middle class, lasts from the end of high school to the years that immediately follow graduation from a four-year college. I'm not saying that these years and experiences can't be written about in an interesting way: other authors have, and young adults often find their lives flipped upside down by enormously charged emotions during this period in their lives. But you wouldn't know that by reading "Barbara the Slut". These stories just aren't for me. show less

With a title like this Barbara the Slut, you have to buy the book. Sadly the title is not a good representation of the book. This book is easily in the top five books of short stories I have read. I would love to give this more than 5 stars. All but two of these stories were A+ and the other 2 were A. This author can really write a short story! Every story sucked me in right away. I Can't wait for more from such a talented writer.

I received this as part of Goodread's First Reads program, meaning that it's an unproofed pre-published copy of the book.

This is an interesting collection of short stories, more for the subject matter than for the content within. Almost all of them (minus the one about the guy and the one about the dog) are from the point of view of women on the verge of adulthood. You don't see that much, and I found the characters to be much more sympathetic and interesting than world-weary adults who have seen and dated it all by the age of 36.

Some of the stories in this collection really stand out, particularly the first one and the titular "Barbara the Slut." I kept waiting for something more, though, a message or a kernel of truth that would show more resonate with me. Don't get me wrong: there are some really good stories in here. But from a literary perspective, the collection as a whole isn't particularly strong.

But let's be honest: do normal readers give a shit about literary greatness? Nope. They want to enjoy a few hours through someone else's eyes, and this book gives you exactly that. show less

Barbara the Slut is just one of the numerous realistically nuanced characters you will come across in this collection of short stories by Lauren Holmes. Each story conveys human emotions, interactions, and relationships that I swear I have witnessed in real life, either from observation or from personal experience. Lauren Holmes has a freshly simplistic voice that can draw humor, poignancy, and intimacy out of her parade of characters with envious ease, and she will leave you wanting to hear more details about their life stories. Barbara the Slut and Other People is a light and honest collection that is perfect for summer reading and for celebrating a wonderful literary debut.

This was a selection by a new book club that I joined and I was a bit skeptical about it from the title. (Never judge a book by its cover, right?) I was expecting heavy sexual themes and I wasn't sure how much I would be able to relate to the stories but it turns out that Lauren Holmes is really good at looking at relationships and identity and human emotions. Some of the stories were a bit bizarre but in my experience short stories seem to be a place for experimentation for authors and often have rather bizarre themes.

I had a few favorites from the books. I really enjoyed the first story 'How Am I Supposed To Talk to You?' which is probably what encouraged me to continue reading the rest of the book. It was essentially a coming out show more story and a story about estranged family and had a very interesting setting in Mexico and left a lot unsaid about the exact history of the family but the reader still understands because family is complicated.

I really enjoyed Desert Hearts which follows a young woman who has graduated from law school and passed the bar but doesn't really want to work as a lawyer and ends up working at a sex toy shop under the guise of being a lesbian even though she is living with a long time boyfriend. I don't know why I liked it but I think I really felt like it captured that 20-something dissatisfaction and trying to find direction in life and shows that you never know where you'll end up in life.

There were two stories that involved dogs that I really enjoyed. These stories were 'Pearl and the Swiss Guy Fall in Love' and 'My Humans'. I really enjoyed both though I think the former might have been a little better. I liked how it started out with the girl really smitten with the guy and her dog unsure and then the dog likes him more and more as she starts to like him less. 'My Humans' is actually from the perspective of a dog - this is what I mean when I say that short stories are a good platform for experimentation - and it worked better than it should have.

And then the title story. It was really good. It was in turns enraging and empowering and and I think it was a good way to close the collection.

In the end, I think it was a really good collection of stories that reflect all kinds of relationships. The relationship between mother and daughter, boyfriend and girlfriend, friends, classmates, brother and sister. It's not a book strictly about romantic relationships and in fact that relationship often ends up being the least satisfying or important for the protagonist of the character. There is in fact a theme of dissatisfaction throughout the book and imperfection is very apparent and not shied away from.

All in all, worth a read. I'm glad it was a selection for my book club because I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. show less

I enjoyed the humorous, breezy tone of the stories and connected with several of the twenty-something characters. I was surprised that I didn't really like the title story, as that's usually one of the best ones in a collection, but I found Barbara's bragging about Princeton really irritating. I felt like there was another layer there that could have been explored deeper, but it was left a little thin, in my view. But maybe that's just because her, like many of the characters, are just starting out their lives and will deepen with time.