This collection was trying too hard to follow the "academic ending" way of writing. Parachute into the short story with a snappy opening, numb the reader with a bland character doing bland things, and finish with the "academic ending" (an ending that's deliberately loose and unfinished, almost begging for some first year lit student to write an essay about the deep meaning). The female leads in each piece just reinforced the stereotypes that women only long for marriage/breeding and are wishy washy push overs. The writing was decent but the stories were like licking a stamp, unappealing at first with a bad aftertaste. Adding insult to injury was the "author questionnaire" at the end. I'm glad I got this one from the library, saving some cash. I'm not quite sure what to think of this book. I found it compulsively readable, compelled to begin each story as soon as the one before it had ended, but at the same time at no point did I feel emotionally engaged, or impressed with the writing. The characters were decently well done, but as I went on I would forget which character had been in which story, or what happened. I guess that with other short story collections that I've read, like Delicate Edible Birds, and Brief Encounters with Che Guevara, each story lived in my mind like a little distinct world that felt true, whereas here they just all blended. The book is split into two parts, the first a set of unrelated short stories, mostly about pregnant women or women who wanted to be pregnant, and the second half all centered around the character Lola. I think I liked the first half best; the Lola stories, partly because they were arranged chronologically, felt like a novel that hadn't yet been finished.
What do You think about Love Story In This Town (2000)?
I love Amanda's writing, and these stories are smart and full of feeling and very, very readable.
—Gauri
The Lola stories were really good. I like this collection better than 'Olive Kitetridge.'
—abbey
Enjoyed this collection of short stories enough to seek out more of the author's work.
—Jackie
One of my favorite new short story writers.
—AMcMahon
