What do You think about Ordinary Life: Stories (2003)?
Elizabeth Berg makes me cry. Logically, I understand that my emotional responses are irrational and out of proportion to the stories at hand. In reality, I haven't read an Elizabeth Berg novel in 15 years, since before I had children, since my early-20s. I just don't remember them making me cry this much, and it's been a long enough time, several years, since I've had to stop reading a book partway through. Had to. Stop. Also: I hate short stories. But I don't think I could have handled more of a lot of these characters anyway. Five stars for emotional response, and I'm taking a break from Elizabeth Berg, despite the fact that I took out two library books at once. I'll just return the other and try again later.
—Liza
This was a beautifully written collection of stories. Each one independent of the other, but all focusing on the theme of the daily struggles people face. Some parts were laugh out loud funny. I especially loved Mavis' and Al's story, in which Mavis stays in the bathroom for week as a sort of vacation and her husband having to 'understand' why she feels compelled to do it (and no Al she's not going crazy). Also the story of the woman asking her husband to take a magazine quiz and how that seemingly simple thing backfires on her. "Martin's Letter to Nan" was great too, laughed out loud a lot to that one. So many good stories, it's hard to pick just one.
—Amber
There were several good stories in this collection, but my favourite was Martin’s Letter to Nan. This short story was written in response to readers who had read The Pull of the Moon, and wondered, as I did, how Martin felt when menopausal Nan suddenly took off on a trip by herself, leaving Martin a note to say she didn’t know when she’d be back. As his wife never let him know where she was, The Pull of the Moon was one-sided in its focus on Nan’s letters to Martin, and the journal entries she makes throughout the novel. I would recommend Ordinary Life for this one story alone. Perhaps some men might not find it realistic; I’d be curious to know. But for me, it struck a chord so deep, I read it several times. I found much truth in what Martin had to say; truth that wasn’t always easy to accept. And once you’ve read that story, you’ll want to read and enjoy the rest of Ordinary Life.
—Bonnie
