Book 803 Lorrie Moore – Anagrams

 

Reading Anagrams reminded me of  watching a Woody Allen film ; clever plot , witty one liners and lots of laughs.

Benna Carpenter is a person who depends entirely on words. In fact she makes up characters and invents imaginary conversations with them. In the process she invents certain aspects of her life.

However in reality she  teaches a poetry class , falls in love with a student and has a close relationship with her one her best friend Gerard. Unfortunately certain events take place and Benna has to face reality, ditch the anagrams and live life as it should.

With the exception of its heartfelt last section, Anagrams made me laugh out loud constantly. I’m a huge fan of puns and jokes so I found the book an extremely enjoyable read. Plus it’s much better than the short story collection I read last year. On the surface this may seem like chick lit but trust me it’s much deeper than that.

 

 

Book 844 Lorrie Moore – Like Life

 

The short story collection is a weird thing.  With the exception of Roald Dahl and Guy de Maupassant, collections can be very patchy. There’s always some amazing short stories but you’ll have a couple of stinkers in the mix.

Thankfully in the eight stories here, there was only one which I didn’t like so I guess that’s a good sign.

Moore doesn’t really write out a fleshed out story, rather the pieces here set a scene, make you smile and absorb the poetic quality of her writing. Moore’s characters are mostly losers who try to escape their normal life and they always nearly manage to.  Whether it’s a frustrated playwright, a guy who loves self-help books when his personal life is falling to pieces or a woman dating a rather uncultured Jew (and this is standout) ,  Like Life has a way of weirdly identifying with her characters.

I can’t really expand as I’ll give a lot away so it’s better to just let you explore the collection.