Love Life: Stories

by Bobbie Ann Mason

Sixteen stories centering on small-town existence and how peoples' lives are shaped by love explore the ways in which need and loneliness color individuals' longings for affection

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

Paperback

First published March 1, 1989

About the author

Bobbie Ann Mason has won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the American Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her books include In Country and Feather Crowns. She lives in Kentucky.

Reviews

[Adam Carrico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short stories.

The western Kentucky is laid on pretty thick, but I live in western Kentucky so I’m not complaining! I like seeing tons of hyper-local references. It was particularly cool reading about that Cuba basketball team. My grandpas played against them and would talk about good they were.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say I didn't like reading these little vignettes about couples in (I think) Kentucky. Not sure if there was a theme here, but what I got from it was: Humans have no idea what they want. If a couple stays together, they die unhappy and resentful. If a couple separates, they die lonely and wondering what might of been. The author seems to be of the opinion that we all want the 'other' no matter what. She very well may be right.

[Ginny Thurston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the author writes very well about the everyday life of middle - class Southerners.Her description is interesting, but her lack of a positive theme and any real resolution left me wanting in most of these “ love” stories. There wasn’t enough love for me. My favorites were “Big Bertha Stories,” “ State Champions,” “Private Lies,” and “ Wish.” My least favorite ironically was the first story that she used for the title, “ Love Life.”

[Carrie Etter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the focus on everyday, generally working class lives, the stories’ fluency, and the gentle, rather closure-resistant endings.

[James Aston · Rating 3 out of 5]

#3.5

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great bunch of short stories.

[Anesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, I enjoyed Mason's earlier collection, SHILOH, much more. These small-town misfits have tougher problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder and chronically cheating hearts. Although this could make for compelling stories, the protagonists seem to have such limited perspectives on their troubles that the overall sense, for me, was one of small sad lives with little new to tell about it. I would guess that the author purposely tried her hand here at a harsher view of rural life. But there are few I'd care to re-read.

[Janice Cafarelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

A collection of many very very short stories. very disjointed, by time you learned who the characters were in each story the story suddenly ended within about 10 pages ( if that) with no real ending.. Very confusing to read as you never knew where one story ended and another started and just what the stories were about..

[Josie Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bobbie Ann Mason never ceases to amaze me. I loved every story. They all have a familiar melancholic feeling that is true of a lot of small towns, like a sense of complacency that is both comfortable and tragic. I love that sort of atmosphere and she is absolutely an expert at creating it.

[Bea☀️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting vibe. the stories are short and are really just about ordinary people and their lives. it was a nice peaceful read while sick. makes you look at your life from another perspective. overall i really enjoyed.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories, each a gem, set in Kentucky

[Richard Jespers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories. Most of them quite good. In “Marita” she alternates between first and third person quite successfully. Not sure of her purpose, though.

[Timothy Willis Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuck, I liked this.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Midnight machine is one of the best short stories of the 20th century.