Single, Carefree, Mellow: Stories

Perhaps the title of this short story collection is somewhat misleading. Maybe a better title would be Married, Cheating and Mellow because most of the carefree behavior is exhibited by spouses who seem to stray from their partners or at least that is the case with the most memorable stories included. I really loved the author's writing style as she quickly engages the reader into the lives of her characters in very few pages. I always judge a short story collection by whether I want to read more about the characters when the story is over and that was the case here. There is one set of characters that appear multiple times.

The stories in this collection are well written. I was unsure about the ones written in second-person, an odd narrative voice uncommon in fiction, but one that certainly puts the reader in the character's shoes, more like being the dude in Quantum Leap who becomes different people each episode, all of a sudden. But, I also found that I felt like I was reading a book about a totally different species, aliens who think so differently and who have such different expectations and standards that I could not really relate for very long to any of them. Most of the main characters find themselves in sexual relationships that make one wonder if their species as a whole is one that cannot resist engaging their sexual organs whenever they get show more within a few feet of a potential partner. If I related more to them otherwise, this sort of mindless sexual liberation would not have been an issue, just a theme for the stories, but it seemed for me to be a metaphor for the mindlessness with which these characters go about all the rest of their lives, too. I suppose there are people around me, even people I know, who relate perfectly to the characters in this book, and that is a fascinating and somewhat disturbing thought. In any case, while I liked this book enough to recommend it to some people, it is not a favorite.
I won my copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway. show less

Okay, I am not a young woman, in various relationships and illicit affairs, but I did enjoy the eleven stories in this snappy, debut collection, which all deal, with these universal themes. Finding love and happiness, in the modern age. I may not agree, with all the infidelity that runs rampant here but it does make for an entertaining read, plus, one of the characters, Maya, pops up, in a few of the stories, a device, I appreciate, in my short fiction.

The stories in this collection are well written. I was unsure about the ones written in second-person, an odd narrative voice uncommon in fiction, but one that certainly puts the reader in the character's shoes, more like being the dude in Quantum Leap who becomes different people each episode, all of a sudden. But, I also found that I felt like I was reading a book about a totally different species, aliens who think so differently and who have such different expectations and standards that I could not really relate for very long to any of them. Most of the main characters find themselves in sexual relationships that make one wonder if their species as a whole is one that cannot resist engaging their sexual organs whenever they get show more within a few feet of a potential partner. If I related more to them otherwise, this sort of mindless sexual liberation would not have been an issue, just a theme for the stories, but it seemed for me to be a metaphor for the mindlessness with which these characters go about all the rest of their lives, too. I suppose there are people around me, even people I know, who relate perfectly to the characters in this book, and that is a fascinating and somewhat disturbing thought. In any case, while I liked this book enough to recommend it to some people, it is not a favorite.
I won my copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway. show less

I enjoyed the book overall, but some of the stories were too similar. My favorites were "Single, Carefree, Mellow." What a devastating read. And "The Rhett Butlers". Devastating in a very different way. I liked the Maya character. A lot of the other characters seemed interchangeable to me. And the Filipino housekeeper and her family were not necessary. I am not sure what the author was going for with that, but it fell flat.

This collection of short stories started off strongly, and I found myself drawn into the web Heiny creates for her characters. The majority of her stories feature women and after the first couple ended, I found myself disappointed that we wouldn't get to know more about the characters. (There is one group of characters that she re-visits throughout a couple of stories in the collection, which does help sate your curiosity a bit.)

Because I devoured this book so quickly - over less than two days - I was a bit fatigued by the end. Most of the stories feature adultery in some form or another, and frankly, that got a bit old in the end. That would really be my only issue with the story set. By the end, you're thinking "really? again!" and show more wondering if these women have anything else to do to occupy their time.

Otherwise, this collection of stories is vibrant and poignant and at times, made me laugh out loud. I found myself tagging pages where lines were just so hilarious, I wanted to jot them down for safe-keeping: it's rare when that happens. And again, even though the stories were brilliant little nuggets, so many of the characters were so intriguing, I found myself wishing I could read more about them. I just wish they had a little more to do than cheat on each other all the time. show less

Short stories, all from a female perspective and almost entirely featuring women having an affair, thinking of having an affair or ending an affair. (There was one about an eight-year old's birthday party too). Beautifully written and amusing for the most part, although some were rather unpleasant. I disliked "Thoughts of a Bridesmaid" and my favourite was "Blue Heron Bridge" with the Presbyterian minister houseguest.