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Single, Carefree, Mellow
Maya is in love with both her boyfriend and her boss. Sadie’s lover calls her as he drives to meet his wife at marriage counseling. Gwen pines for her roommate, a man who will hold her hand but then tells her that her palm is sweaty. And Sasha agrees to have a drink with her married lover’s wife and then immediately regrets it. These are the women of Single, Carefree, Mellow, and in these eleven sublime stories they are grappling with unwelcome houseguests, disastrous birthday parties, needy but loyal friends, and all manner of love, secrets, and betrayal.
In Cranberry Relish Josie’s ex—a man she met on Facebook—has a new girlfriend he found on Twitter. In Blue Heron Bridge Nina is more worried that the Presbyterian minister living in her garage will hear her kids swearing than about his finding out that she’s sleeping with her running partner. And in The Rhett Butlers a teenager loses her virginity to her history teacher and then outgrows him.
In snappy, glittering prose that is both utterly hilarious and achingly poignant, Katherine Heiny chronicles the ways in which we are unfaithful to each other, both willfully and unwittingly. Maya, who appears in the title story and again in various states of love, forms the spine of this linked collection, and shows us through her moments of pleasure, loss, deceit, and kindness just how fickle the human heart can be.
In Cranberry Relish Josie’s ex—a man she met on Facebook—has a new girlfriend he found on Twitter. In Blue Heron Bridge Nina is more worried that the Presbyterian minister living in her garage will hear her kids swearing than about his finding out that she’s sleeping with her running partner. And in The Rhett Butlers a teenager loses her virginity to her history teacher and then outgrows him.
In snappy, glittering prose that is both utterly hilarious and achingly poignant, Katherine Heiny chronicles the ways in which we are unfaithful to each other, both willfully and unwittingly. Maya, who appears in the title story and again in various states of love, forms the spine of this linked collection, and shows us through her moments of pleasure, loss, deceit, and kindness just how fickle the human heart can be.
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 3, 2015
336 people are currently reading
9486 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Heiny
9 books846 followersKatherine Heiny's fiction has been published in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Narrative,Glimmer Train, and many other places. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 885 reviews
September 22, 2014
One of the most delightful and real and well-written story collections I've read in years. I can already imagine the complaints about this book—actually, I don't have to imagine, because I've heard them from my coworkers. "Too much adultery!" "I don't like any of the characters!" "I don't understand WHY Maya is cheating on her nice fiance!" "I hate it that the women admit that they're pretty and care about being pretty in the first place!" To all of those I would say, yep, it can be very uncomfortable seeing real life depicted in fiction. If this collection makes you squirm, it's probably because you see yourself reflected in it. But don't get the wrong idea—this isn't a grind. It's not gritty. No one will call it "brutally honest" on the back cover copy. It's effervescent.
Here's what Heiny totally nails: 1. Close friendships between women; 2. What it's like to be a 17-year-old girl dating a grown man; 3. What it's like to be trapped in a horrible disgusting relationship you can't seem to prise yourself out of; 4. Metaphors! The kind of metaphors that make you laugh, they're so perfect; 5. What it's like to be a mother; 6. What it's like to do something self-destructive and immoral for reasons you don't understand yourself; 7. What it's like to live in New York in your 20s. AND MORE! On nearly every page, there's a small observation about life that makes you feel deeply understood, or that makes you feel like, ahhhh, at least one other person in the world sees things the way I do. What more can you ask for from fiction?
Here's what Heiny totally nails: 1. Close friendships between women; 2. What it's like to be a 17-year-old girl dating a grown man; 3. What it's like to be trapped in a horrible disgusting relationship you can't seem to prise yourself out of; 4. Metaphors! The kind of metaphors that make you laugh, they're so perfect; 5. What it's like to be a mother; 6. What it's like to do something self-destructive and immoral for reasons you don't understand yourself; 7. What it's like to live in New York in your 20s. AND MORE! On nearly every page, there's a small observation about life that makes you feel deeply understood, or that makes you feel like, ahhhh, at least one other person in the world sees things the way I do. What more can you ask for from fiction?
July 16, 2016
She held the thought of Marcus in her mind, like a Saint Christopher medal, or a dream catcher, or maybe just a hidden flask of whiskey in her purse--something that made survival possible.
Yes. This one was a real surprise for me (the good kind), since normally you would never catch me willingly picking up a collection of short stories by an unknown (to me) author. And the cover is bubblegum pink (another strike). And features a blurb about how it "gives women's interior lives the gravity they so richly deserve." Errm, okay? I guess?
Sometimes, you just gotta take a chance and try something waaaay outside your normal reading wheelhouse.
In this instance, the risk paid off. This collection is DE-LIGHT-FUL. Funny, poignant, and filled with insights great and small. I'm a tough nut to crack when it comes to short stories, but the author made me putty in her hands, with her breezy, witty prose and smart, relatable characters. Okay -- maybe not too relatable -- I'm not married, I've never cheated, and I don't have kids -- but there's something about the way these women move through their lives and think about the world around them that is instantly recognizable and resonated within me like a tuning fork vibration.
For readers seeking more of a novella experience, three of the stories -- "Single, Carefree, Mellow," "Dark Matter," and "Grendel's Mother" -- actually feature the same characters (Maya and Rhodes) as their relationship transitions from dating, to marriage, to having their first child. I loved reading about these two, and if the author ever wants to write a whole book on what these two are up to now, I'd be all over that.
These are grown-up stories, featuring adult problems and fears and betrayals and epiphanies. But never losing sight of life's absurdities, and that if we haven't learned to laugh at ourselves we're just doing it wrong. Because humans are ridiculous.
I'm also going to pair this book with Aziz Ansari's Netflix original Master of None, which just received four Emmy nominations: Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy, and two more nods to Ansari for writing and directing. Heiny and Ansari both prove romantic comedies don't always have to revert to the predictable and overly familiar chick-lit tropes. Unique characters and emotionally resonant themes elevate the stories they're telling to notably and satisfyingly above par.
April 29, 2017
Too many adulteries and extramarital stuff, couldn't relate to this "American" girl. The writing wasn't so bad and I laughed twice. Wouldn't give it to anyone to read honestly
April 12, 2015
Every story, every single one, included some level of adultery. I could've handled one, maybe two, but 300+ pages of stories where the main character is somehow a participant in adultery, whether the cheater or the person the married person is cheating with, was too much. I started thinking, "Is adultery this common? Does everyone do it? Am I overreacting?" Because no one in the book, not in any of the stories, appeared to have any moral or ethical objections to the practice. Moreover, no one, save for one spouse in one story, was even suspicious. Really? Really?!
The stories, when taken separately, were okay but, as a compilation, I couldn't take it. It was like an all you can eat bacon buffet. At the end, you don't feel good. You feel like a pig. And not a pig as in glutton but like a real pig. Because you've eaten so much pork you are basically more pork than human. That's what this book made me feel like. Like a pork filled human. It's not a good feeling. I don't recommend it.
The stories, when taken separately, were okay but, as a compilation, I couldn't take it. It was like an all you can eat bacon buffet. At the end, you don't feel good. You feel like a pig. And not a pig as in glutton but like a real pig. Because you've eaten so much pork you are basically more pork than human. That's what this book made me feel like. Like a pork filled human. It's not a good feeling. I don't recommend it.
January 26, 2016
3.5 stars. (Update: I'm rounding up to 4 because the stories are sticking with me over time.)
I'm sure someone else has already called this, and I am just inadvertently repeating it, but: Chick Lit as written by a suburbanized Dorothy Parker or Anita Loos (and please know these are writers I hold in very high regard). Hold on to that Dorothy Parker reference, as I will be returning to it when I discuss the book's redeeming qualities... after this brief message.
This is a book of short stories in which Most of the protagonists are fundamentally or habitually self-centered, educated, young, attractive, upper-middle-class, suburban white women who are married or about to be married (usually to a mild-mannered, nice, clueless guy who works in a tech firm or economics); have children or are about to have children; and, if not yet full-time mothering, may work for about twelve hours a week in a bookish or writerly kind of job. Oh, and lest I forget: as noted in many other reviews here, pretty much all of the women are having affairs (usually with a mild-mannered, nice, clueless guy who is also married, a little older, and works in some bookish or academic kind of job).
I see that many other reviewers are disconcerted by all this rampant affair-having. Many of the reviews decry the book for supposedly advocating affairs without consequences. Now, I think there are many legit reasons to not love this book, many of which could relate to the omnipresence of homogenous main characters blithely having homogenous extramarital affairs. However, I think the suggestion that the book advocates such affairs, just because the main characters don't necessarily get caught or punished, is as silly as saying that murder mysteries advocate murdering.
Now, the book may more justifiably offend a reader with its occasional repetitiveness and shallow characterization. Seriously: the main characters are literally indistinguishable from one another. Sometimes the same main character reappears in several stories, and sometimes the main character is different; it honestly does not matter because they are all exactly the same person. And they really are All Always Already having affairs, to the point where the affairs don't even seem to be the point anymore and kind of become background noise. Like, the car alarm can only go off so long before you tune it out.
Because everyone's having an affair from story to story, it stops being really interesting or notable, except for to note that you have to admit it's different to have a book where the affairs are Not the focal point or a big effing deal. Especially if it's women having the affairs! I guess this was somewhat refreshing, if you want to put a positive spin on it, but I understand some may not want or be able to do that, so - let's move on.
So just assume the affairs are just happening left and right throughout these stories, and that the stories may not necessarily be "about" these affairs, at least not entirely. So what else is going on? Well, admittedly a couple of the stories do show the shared protagonist's modest personal growth and maturation at various snapshots in time. Several of the stories have touching, humorous characterizations of being a mother in the age of expected perfection and professional mommyhood. There are some good, realistic (and emotionally healthy!) depictions of female friendship and fellowship (including with oft-maligned women relatives, like mothers-in-law). Some stories feature neighborhood cul-de-sac relationships and power dynamics: HBO's Girls meets Desperate Housewives.
Is all of this enough to raise the book beyond the level of typical chick lit, or a sitcom, or a really good Super Bowl commercial? Maaaaybe, maybe not, but - here's where we get back to Dorothy Parker. Heiny is a really good writer with a unique, witty, concise style and voice that kept me reading. (With regard to the concision - yeah, it read sort of like Hemingway, only as a woman, not intoxicated, and with a sense of humor, writing present-day, high-caliber chick lit.) How good this first book is or is not, I'm not sure, but I do know for sure that Heiny has writing talent and that I'd happily check out more of her future work to see where else she can go with it.
A word about the (great) title: Is it ironic? Does it have a double meaning? Is it a mischievous clue as to what Heiny is trying to accomplish? Maybe in part. The characters in the stories are single, carefree, and mellow in that (as the unhappy reviewers noted) they behave in an unfettered way, do what they want (which seems to be have affairs), and aren't even necessarily wracked with guilt about it. However, the title also seems ironic in that the characters are mostly Not single, and also neither carefree nor mellow in that they don't seem especially happy or guilt-free either, despite their attempts to embrace hedonism. There is definitely an overarching tone of (damned if you do, damned if you don't) nihilism here, which seems very Modernist and hence reminiscent of writers like Parker and Hemingway. However, if you can get to the end of this book, the characters do seem to be -- slowly and often misguidedly -- but ultimately -- trying to resist this overarching meaninglessness and to gain insight into self/other and truer connection to others. Which is a human condition worth reading about.
The phrase "Single, Carefree, Mellow" is also both the title of and a key phrase in what I found to be the best story in the book, a story that also notably achieves the rare and accomplished feat of featuring an aging dog in a way that is tearjerking but does not seem exploitative or like a cheap and easy unearned shortcut. I would also recommend "That Dance You Do" as one of the funniest stories and best "motherhood" stories; "Grendel's Mother"; and "The Rhett Butlers."
You just have to give this one a read to see whether you like it! It's that kind of book.
February 6, 2015
Single, Carefree, Mellow: Stories is a collection of short stories written by author: Katherine Heiny. I experienced this collection via audio, which was read by a full cast. The short stories are listed in order below, along with their narrators, individual ratings (based on my personal enjoyment), and a brief review. An average of the ratings below equals 2.63 stars, which I rounded up to 3 on goodreads. Many of these stories didn't leave much of an impression on me, or they left too much of an impression in regards to my pet peeve of infidelity portrayed in an acceptable light. There are a few that I loved though, so much that it made the entire experience worthwhile. If you like short stories and enjoy reading about all different types of women in many different stages of life, then give Single, Carefree, Mellow: Stories a try!
THE DIVE BAR, read by Julia Whelan
★☆☆☆☆
I’m not a fan of infidelity so I had little sympathy for the main character or her circumstances.
HOW TO GIVE THE WRONG IMPRESSION, read by Emily Rankin
★★★★★
I really liked this short story, it was so cute! The ending was much too abrupt though- I was disappointed when it was over because I wanted more.
SINGLE, CAREFREE, MELLOW, read by Rebecca Lowman
★★★★☆
Oh my heart...I have a soft spot for the bond between humans and animals. This one broke me. A beautiful story of the love an owner has for her sweet dog. Also, there was a “Do I stay, do I leave?” theme going on with the main characters’ romance (and again with the infidelity) but I didn't really care much about that parallel story. My focus was on her dog.
BLUE HERON BRIDGE, read by Cassandra Campbell
★☆☆☆☆
I can’t really tell you what this one was about- Something with a priest...and yes, another affair. Unfortunately, I found this one less than memorable.
THAT DANCE YOU DO, read by Julia Whelan
★★★★★
A mother’s love for her son and all she does to make sure he has a successful birthday party...despite some pretty significant distractions. I could relate every step of the way. Pretty funny!
DARK MATTER, read by Rebecca Lowman
★☆☆☆☆
Boring and unmemorable (in my opinion).
CRANBERRY RELISH, read by Cassandra Campbell
★★★☆☆
Love affairs via social media. Interesting.
THOUGHTS OF A BRIDESMAID, read by Julia Whelan
★★★☆☆
A bridesmaid is ready to say goodbye to single life with her friend. A likable story about friends.
THE RHETT BUTLERS, read by Emily Rankin
★★★★☆
A young adult flying high under the romantic attention of a former authority figure. She learns fast that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. This was a good one.
GRENDEL’S MOTHER, read by Rebecca Lowman
★☆☆☆☆
Was this one about the relationship between soon-to-be parents? I don't remember. Let's hope they aren't cheating on each other also...
ANDORRA, read by Cassandra Campbell
★☆☆☆☆
More about infidelity. I just don't care.
THE DIVE BAR, read by Julia Whelan
★☆☆☆☆
I’m not a fan of infidelity so I had little sympathy for the main character or her circumstances.
HOW TO GIVE THE WRONG IMPRESSION, read by Emily Rankin
★★★★★
I really liked this short story, it was so cute! The ending was much too abrupt though- I was disappointed when it was over because I wanted more.
SINGLE, CAREFREE, MELLOW, read by Rebecca Lowman
★★★★☆
Oh my heart...I have a soft spot for the bond between humans and animals. This one broke me. A beautiful story of the love an owner has for her sweet dog. Also, there was a “Do I stay, do I leave?” theme going on with the main characters’ romance (and again with the infidelity) but I didn't really care much about that parallel story. My focus was on her dog.
BLUE HERON BRIDGE, read by Cassandra Campbell
★☆☆☆☆
I can’t really tell you what this one was about- Something with a priest...and yes, another affair. Unfortunately, I found this one less than memorable.
THAT DANCE YOU DO, read by Julia Whelan
★★★★★
A mother’s love for her son and all she does to make sure he has a successful birthday party...despite some pretty significant distractions. I could relate every step of the way. Pretty funny!
DARK MATTER, read by Rebecca Lowman
★☆☆☆☆
Boring and unmemorable (in my opinion).
CRANBERRY RELISH, read by Cassandra Campbell
★★★☆☆
Love affairs via social media. Interesting.
THOUGHTS OF A BRIDESMAID, read by Julia Whelan
★★★☆☆
A bridesmaid is ready to say goodbye to single life with her friend. A likable story about friends.
THE RHETT BUTLERS, read by Emily Rankin
★★★★☆
A young adult flying high under the romantic attention of a former authority figure. She learns fast that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. This was a good one.
GRENDEL’S MOTHER, read by Rebecca Lowman
★☆☆☆☆
Was this one about the relationship between soon-to-be parents? I don't remember. Let's hope they aren't cheating on each other also...
ANDORRA, read by Cassandra Campbell
★☆☆☆☆
More about infidelity. I just don't care.
December 19, 2014
These are short stories about men and woman.
Topics include cheating, gossip, New York life, drinks at the Bar, A Young girl with the older man, A mother giving a birthday party for her child....
Bad relationships -sex - lovers -boyfriends -girlfriends -ex-wives....etc.
Here is short review of a few of the stories:
In "The Dive Bar", Sasha is a single woman who is dating a married man named Carson. Carson's wife, Anne, calls Sasha wanting to meet for a drink.
Sasha says to Anne, "Well, all my life I've wanted to be this cool elegant beauty," she says, "and in reality I think I'm more a friendly blonde a lot of men have wanted to have sex with."
"How to Give The Wrong Impression"... Gwen is secretly in love with Boris whom she shares an apt. with. Its a cute story.
"Single, Carefree, Mellow": Maya's dog is dying --and she wants to leave her boyfriend, Rhodes, of five years at the same time. Her sick dog Baily is Maya's 'ticket' for flirting with other men --will she leave Rhodes or not? ......
This is the only short story 'not' complete --as we see it again towards the end of the book --and the story continues.
"Blue Heron Bridge": Nina's affair makes her impatient with her kids. This is my favorite story. Nina goes running with a personal trainer. --(the man she is cheating with) --A funny neighbor -a funny husband-a funny House guest!
"That Dance You Do" -was the a story about a mother giving a birthday party for her child and the challenges of the day. I liked this story --(all mothers could relate).
A few other stories --"Dark Matter, Cranberry Relish, and "Thoughts of a Bridsmaid" had their twists and turns....
Overall: entertaining!
Topics include cheating, gossip, New York life, drinks at the Bar, A Young girl with the older man, A mother giving a birthday party for her child....
Bad relationships -sex - lovers -boyfriends -girlfriends -ex-wives....etc.
Here is short review of a few of the stories:
In "The Dive Bar", Sasha is a single woman who is dating a married man named Carson. Carson's wife, Anne, calls Sasha wanting to meet for a drink.
Sasha says to Anne, "Well, all my life I've wanted to be this cool elegant beauty," she says, "and in reality I think I'm more a friendly blonde a lot of men have wanted to have sex with."
"How to Give The Wrong Impression"... Gwen is secretly in love with Boris whom she shares an apt. with. Its a cute story.
"Single, Carefree, Mellow": Maya's dog is dying --and she wants to leave her boyfriend, Rhodes, of five years at the same time. Her sick dog Baily is Maya's 'ticket' for flirting with other men --will she leave Rhodes or not? ......
This is the only short story 'not' complete --as we see it again towards the end of the book --and the story continues.
"Blue Heron Bridge": Nina's affair makes her impatient with her kids. This is my favorite story. Nina goes running with a personal trainer. --(the man she is cheating with) --A funny neighbor -a funny husband-a funny House guest!
"That Dance You Do" -was the a story about a mother giving a birthday party for her child and the challenges of the day. I liked this story --(all mothers could relate).
A few other stories --"Dark Matter, Cranberry Relish, and "Thoughts of a Bridsmaid" had their twists and turns....
Overall: entertaining!
March 28, 2015
The worst piece of garbage I've ever read. Basically every short story included some form of infidelity, and none of the characters suffered any consequences. What kind of message was this supposed to send? I want my money back.
February 1, 2015
I guess "Single, Carefree, Mellow" sells better than "Taken, Adulterous, Liars" as happened to be the case with the majority of the short stories here. The dark sense of humor saved it from being a complete flop for me.
February 21, 2015
Relentless, relentless adultery. If that's your bag, look no further; myself, I was a little dazed at the end from the unremitting hanky-panky.
January 21, 2015
WOW. Just wow, wow, wow.
I expected basically nothing from this short story collection (never heard of the author before, hadn't heard any early buzz online) and it completely blew me away.
These are short stories in the vein of Melissa Banks' Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing--they are smart about relationships and beautifully written. They are FUNNY. I mean hilarious. I was giggling so hard while reading the bed shook. I highlighted so many passages with the hope of sharing here, but when I went back to them I realized that the humor is baked into the fiber of the story. It's not funny when one line is removed because it's everything the author has written and the way the characters react that makes the whole thing so perfect.
There are a few stories that are linked by the same characters, but most are standalone. All are perfect and hilarious and a great read.
I expected basically nothing from this short story collection (never heard of the author before, hadn't heard any early buzz online) and it completely blew me away.
These are short stories in the vein of Melissa Banks' Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing--they are smart about relationships and beautifully written. They are FUNNY. I mean hilarious. I was giggling so hard while reading the bed shook. I highlighted so many passages with the hope of sharing here, but when I went back to them I realized that the humor is baked into the fiber of the story. It's not funny when one line is removed because it's everything the author has written and the way the characters react that makes the whole thing so perfect.
There are a few stories that are linked by the same characters, but most are standalone. All are perfect and hilarious and a great read.
March 26, 2015
The description of this book calls it 'laugh-out-loud' funny...
I didn't get it.
The stories in this book center on infidelity, arrogance and sadness. I don't put down many books and I gave up on this one.
I didn't get it.
The stories in this book center on infidelity, arrogance and sadness. I don't put down many books and I gave up on this one.
February 27, 2015
I found this collection of stories a bit uneven, but mostly good. Heiny does a lot of changing perspective (she uses first, second, and third person here) and even with a unified theme of adultery running throughout much of the collection and some very strong stories, I thought that read a bit gimmicky, trying to tell stories from so many different perspectives and styles. But I hate both list formats ("Thoughts of a Bridesmaid," my least favorite story) and second person ("That Dance You Do") -- I think both are affected and work to separate me from the story immediately, so that may be my bias speaking.
The standout for me was the trilogy of Maya/Rhodes stories. I cried in "Single, Carefree, Mellow" when Maya put her dog to sleep, and felt the ache to her chest over a text message following a soul swallowingly passionate romance in "Dark Matter". I also loved "Blue Heron Bridge," specifically most scenes involving the minister, a few of which made me cackle (main character Nina may be a cheater, but holy shit, she is a funny observer of people).
Since I've just come off of reading The Last Bad Man, I'd say that Heiny kind of reminds me of the straight man version of Miranda July. Like, straight in the sense of not being so absurd, but still dryly funny and in touch with what it is to be a contemporary lady.
The standout for me was the trilogy of Maya/Rhodes stories. I cried in "Single, Carefree, Mellow" when Maya put her dog to sleep, and felt the ache to her chest over a text message following a soul swallowingly passionate romance in "Dark Matter". I also loved "Blue Heron Bridge," specifically most scenes involving the minister, a few of which made me cackle (main character Nina may be a cheater, but holy shit, she is a funny observer of people).
Since I've just come off of reading The Last Bad Man, I'd say that Heiny kind of reminds me of the straight man version of Miranda July. Like, straight in the sense of not being so absurd, but still dryly funny and in touch with what it is to be a contemporary lady.
June 18, 2015
Jesus, where do I start?
"Single, Carefree, Mellow" to describe this book is a hell of a misnomer, because to begin with, not one of the characters in this collection of eleven short stories was single (most were married, in a relationship, or about to be married). All of Heiny's characters are upper middle class, educated, young white women working in a writerly kind of job, married to or in a committed relationship to a nice, clueless guy who works in a tech field, a mother already or about to be a mother. Every single story (yes, every. single. one!) included a main character caught up in some form or another of adultery, usually with a slightly older man who also works in a writerly occupation. It was almost as if the author was using a formula here: introduce characters, insert some humorous descriptions, bleep bleep bloop...then onto the coup de grâce of the main character and her running partner going at it like rabbits in the backseat of a car. Yes. Really.
I can understand that a book has a common theme, but this was ridiculous. I've never read a short story collection in which the stories were so blandly repetitive, the characters so obnoxiously cliche. The women here were so indistinguishable from one another that it didn't matter that Heiny used the second person narrative in several selections, or that the same character appeared in three different stories here in three different stages of her life. You don't remember the characters' names because they were so predictable and generic---the same voice, same character type, the same set of circumstances. And since they're all screwing their bosses or the dude they met on the Internet anyway, their affairs are mindless, so beside the point, like background noise. Like a dog barking at one in the morning, you eventually roll over and ignore it. You move on, you don't care.
Also weird was that no one in this book, not one single person, appeared to have any moral objections to all of this affair-having (was this the "carefree" or the "mellow" part of the title?) Not that every person is a born again Bible thumper, but I found the lack of empathy in each story strange, to the point of being completely unrealistic. Not one of the significant others/husbands here seemed to be vaguely suspicious, and no one was ever "discovered" either. And always, after said affair was over, the protagonist seemed to go on with their daily lives as normal. Really?! Like, I had no idea that getting your rocks off with a guy you met on a plane while your husband's on a bicycling trip was that simple. Wowzers!
Is infidelity among women this rampant in our society? After reading this book, if I wasn't careful, I would believe so. However, I honestly believe that women are smarter than what Heiny portrays them as. The strangest part about it was that I actually did enjoy Heiny's writing, she employs a fair amount of dark humor, which was a plus for me. There was also a very touching scene in one of the stories in which the character loses her dog after an illness, which left me kinda sore because this happened to me about three years ago (RIP Zoe). But that was the only scene that connected with me, it still wasn't enough to save this crappy mess of a book. Glad I didn't purchase this, thank God for libraries...
"Single, Carefree, Mellow" to describe this book is a hell of a misnomer, because to begin with, not one of the characters in this collection of eleven short stories was single (most were married, in a relationship, or about to be married). All of Heiny's characters are upper middle class, educated, young white women working in a writerly kind of job, married to or in a committed relationship to a nice, clueless guy who works in a tech field, a mother already or about to be a mother. Every single story (yes, every. single. one!) included a main character caught up in some form or another of adultery, usually with a slightly older man who also works in a writerly occupation. It was almost as if the author was using a formula here: introduce characters, insert some humorous descriptions, bleep bleep bloop...then onto the coup de grâce of the main character and her running partner going at it like rabbits in the backseat of a car. Yes. Really.
I can understand that a book has a common theme, but this was ridiculous. I've never read a short story collection in which the stories were so blandly repetitive, the characters so obnoxiously cliche. The women here were so indistinguishable from one another that it didn't matter that Heiny used the second person narrative in several selections, or that the same character appeared in three different stories here in three different stages of her life. You don't remember the characters' names because they were so predictable and generic---the same voice, same character type, the same set of circumstances. And since they're all screwing their bosses or the dude they met on the Internet anyway, their affairs are mindless, so beside the point, like background noise. Like a dog barking at one in the morning, you eventually roll over and ignore it. You move on, you don't care.
Also weird was that no one in this book, not one single person, appeared to have any moral objections to all of this affair-having (was this the "carefree" or the "mellow" part of the title?) Not that every person is a born again Bible thumper, but I found the lack of empathy in each story strange, to the point of being completely unrealistic. Not one of the significant others/husbands here seemed to be vaguely suspicious, and no one was ever "discovered" either. And always, after said affair was over, the protagonist seemed to go on with their daily lives as normal. Really?! Like, I had no idea that getting your rocks off with a guy you met on a plane while your husband's on a bicycling trip was that simple. Wowzers!
Is infidelity among women this rampant in our society? After reading this book, if I wasn't careful, I would believe so. However, I honestly believe that women are smarter than what Heiny portrays them as. The strangest part about it was that I actually did enjoy Heiny's writing, she employs a fair amount of dark humor, which was a plus for me. There was also a very touching scene in one of the stories in which the character loses her dog after an illness, which left me kinda sore because this happened to me about three years ago (RIP Zoe). But that was the only scene that connected with me, it still wasn't enough to save this crappy mess of a book. Glad I didn't purchase this, thank God for libraries...
February 26, 2015
Originally reviewed on One More Page...
[I received a copy of Single, Carefree, Mellow from its Canadian publisher HarperCollins Canada. This does not affect my opinion of the book]
When I opened the package containing Katherine Heiny’s first book Single, Carefree, Mellow, I instantly knew that it was the perfect read for Valentine’s Day and that I would want to devour it for the occasion. (Never mind the fact that I actually had a Valentine’s date.) The novel has been blurbed by Lena Dunham, who calls it “magical,” and for some reason I knew that this was going to be the book for me. I wasn’t wrong.
In Single, Carefree, Mellow, the complexities of relationships and hook-ups are expertly explored through a series of short stories. These stories are all focused on the point-of-view of women (amazing!), and reminded me of shows like Sex & the City and Girls for its honest and blunt portrayal of the ups and downs of love (or lust, in some cases). There’s no sugar-coating to be found here, and it’s refreshing and fun to read.
What made this collection especially interesting was the fact that these women are not perfect. In some ways, they are also not very nice. Infidelity is not an uncommon theme in this collection (so beware, if you aren’t a fan of reading that kind of stuff), but I personally love reading about women who are unabashedly flawed. Did I cringe in some parts? Yes. Did I yell “nooo!” at parts? Yes. But I secretly thanked Heiny for writing characters that are so real that by the end of the book I felt like I had just had a long chat with some girlfriends.
On top of that, these short stories are funny. Sure, the women may not always be in great situations, but the stories sneak in a lot of observational and subtle humour that had me chuckling as I read. In one story, a woman secretly nicknames her next-door-neighbour Chicken Pox. Chicken Pox!
Verdict: Overall, this is a very strong collection of well-crafted stories that I enjoyed. (Warning: there is a story that is a bit darker than others near the end of the book, but hopefully the payoff satisfies you in a way that it did for me.) I loved how Heiny was able to capture how messy and fickle the human heart can be, and loved it even more for how it kept the tone and pacing interesting by playing with tenses and injecting humour into the stories.
Read if: You love female-focused books, are a fan of shows like Sex & the City and Girls, want to read a collection of stories that is realistic, funny, and fresh.
[I received a copy of Single, Carefree, Mellow from its Canadian publisher HarperCollins Canada. This does not affect my opinion of the book]
When I opened the package containing Katherine Heiny’s first book Single, Carefree, Mellow, I instantly knew that it was the perfect read for Valentine’s Day and that I would want to devour it for the occasion. (Never mind the fact that I actually had a Valentine’s date.) The novel has been blurbed by Lena Dunham, who calls it “magical,” and for some reason I knew that this was going to be the book for me. I wasn’t wrong.
In Single, Carefree, Mellow, the complexities of relationships and hook-ups are expertly explored through a series of short stories. These stories are all focused on the point-of-view of women (amazing!), and reminded me of shows like Sex & the City and Girls for its honest and blunt portrayal of the ups and downs of love (or lust, in some cases). There’s no sugar-coating to be found here, and it’s refreshing and fun to read.
What made this collection especially interesting was the fact that these women are not perfect. In some ways, they are also not very nice. Infidelity is not an uncommon theme in this collection (so beware, if you aren’t a fan of reading that kind of stuff), but I personally love reading about women who are unabashedly flawed. Did I cringe in some parts? Yes. Did I yell “nooo!” at parts? Yes. But I secretly thanked Heiny for writing characters that are so real that by the end of the book I felt like I had just had a long chat with some girlfriends.
On top of that, these short stories are funny. Sure, the women may not always be in great situations, but the stories sneak in a lot of observational and subtle humour that had me chuckling as I read. In one story, a woman secretly nicknames her next-door-neighbour Chicken Pox. Chicken Pox!
Verdict: Overall, this is a very strong collection of well-crafted stories that I enjoyed. (Warning: there is a story that is a bit darker than others near the end of the book, but hopefully the payoff satisfies you in a way that it did for me.) I loved how Heiny was able to capture how messy and fickle the human heart can be, and loved it even more for how it kept the tone and pacing interesting by playing with tenses and injecting humour into the stories.
Read if: You love female-focused books, are a fan of shows like Sex & the City and Girls, want to read a collection of stories that is realistic, funny, and fresh.
December 24, 2014
Heiny's collection of short stories is a series of discontent, for the characters. Rather than a spot of sunshine on happy go lucky guys and gals she gives us a more cynical look into relationships, forbidden or otherwise. Personally, I prefer the writers that expose the ugly side of our messy emotions and terrible choices. Apathetic women and mindless men inhabit the stories, in one a teen is having a slummy relationship with her history teacher, and the sexy cliché is more of a stinky hotel and boring sex. I prefer the heavier stories to carefree and light but there were times I didn't feel anchored in the telling, and I need to. Blue Heron ridge was funny, the musings bitingly clever and certainly the soul of the writing is in the raw honesty. Readers don't always want to soak in criticism and infidelity, maybe because it forces us to wonder if we may be the unwitting fool in our own love lives. No? I admit I wasn't keen on a certain character that comes and goes in the stories, I just didn't care much for her. Certainly this collection hits the mark on some feelings and complications and then overdoes in other ways. In the end, a provocative book and a good read.
July 10, 2018
This is the kind of book where I involuntarily make noises and can’t help gushing out loud during reading. It is evoking a serious, audible reaction from me. All of the tales are about women in various states of love and relationships (and so far none of them are single…): unrequited, long-term, other woman, online, and platonic but wanting more. They are darkly funny and incredibly intuitive. I read sentences and paragraphs that so perfectly sum up feelings I did not know how to describe. I’m in awe!
If any of these short stories were extended into novels, I’d happily read the whole thing. The characters in particular are so full of brilliant nuances and personality quirks (many of them highly unlikeable… in the best way possible) that I can’t help but imagine their lives away from the handful of pages they feature on.
I never say stuff like this, but seriously, if you read Single, Carefree, Mellow and don’t like it, we probably can’t be friends.
Read more on my blog: Middle Chapter
If any of these short stories were extended into novels, I’d happily read the whole thing. The characters in particular are so full of brilliant nuances and personality quirks (many of them highly unlikeable… in the best way possible) that I can’t help but imagine their lives away from the handful of pages they feature on.
I never say stuff like this, but seriously, if you read Single, Carefree, Mellow and don’t like it, we probably can’t be friends.
Read more on my blog: Middle Chapter
May 27, 2021
This collection of short fiction could easily be subtitled ‘Women Behaving Baldly’ and I can’t help feeling the actual title is meant to be ironic, because it doesn’t seem that any of these sassy metropolitan women are really having a good time flitting through extra-marital affairs - in fact, behaving more like their male counterparts.The unifying theme is infidelity and betrayal, with female friendship more to be cherished than their hedonistic relationships with men. However, Heiney’s sparky dialogues and comedic talent in this debut shows her future promise, best showcased here by the story ‘That Dance You Do’ - describing a child's birthday party from hell, which recalled ghastly memories for me as a young mother.
February 20, 2017
3.5 stars but upgraded because it's funny. Very funny. I like funny. It should be retitled 'Married (or about to be), Careful (although not that careful), mellow-ish'. Wouldn't be quite as snappy, but more accurate as these stories are all about conducting affairs and not feeling that bad about it. The stories are beautifully brought together, satisfying, quite insightful, and as I say, funny, if a tiny bit glib.
March 9, 2015
If you want to read of people having affairs and justifying them, this set of stories is for you. For those of us who believe in fidelity, I don't think you will like these.
February 9, 2015
Read this and other reviews at Ampersand Read
I read this in just two days, and found the stories to be well-written, quick reads. A central story problem really affected my reading of it, and overall I have read better story collections.
A short rant: Almost every story in here involves a woman having an affair. Wife cheats on husband, girlfriend cheats on fiance, underaged girl sleeps with her middle-aged teacher, woman thinks about cheating on her partner, etc. I think only one story had zero traces of affair/adultery (which just happened to be one of my favorites. The book depicts motherhood well, and "That Dance You Do" is particularly good).
Now, my problem is not writing about adultery itself. I am aware that, unfortunately, it happens. Quite often. That many marriages end in divorce. That people get wrapped up in this person outside of their commitment and make mistakes and blah blah blah.
BUT. This was pitched as a short story collection that celebrates women. The description of this books on websites is filled with quips and quotes of reviewers and celebrities claiming it "'gives women's interior lives the gravity they so richly deserve'" (Lena Dunham), and "'These young women are sympathetic and slyly seductive...beguilingly human, and readers will yield to their charms.'" (Kirkus (starred)). And I found that it did none of that.
My main problem stems from this: Women have so many more interesting things to say, and interesting things to do, than to have affairs. Returning to the same plot device -- an affair -- again and again not only becomes terribly repetitive, it becomes borderline offensive (at least to this reader). Heiny could have depicted any number of other "sins," weaknesses, moments of clarity for the women in her stories. And yet it's sleeping around that she chooses to highlight again and again. It's a bad story choice that irked me right up until the last story, when the first sentence mentioned a lover and a spouse, and I actually said aloud "Oh, come on!!"
Short rant over. I will move on.
Heiny includes three stories with the same characters, which I actually kind of liked amidst a collection of short stories of unrelated protagonists. I didn't find Maya or her boyfriend very likable. Or compelling. But the device of having three short stories set in the same world, spaced evenly apart in the collection was a good one.
"Blue Heron Bridge" was about cheating, but I thought it did it in almost a satire, tongue in cheek kind of way. I liked the quirky characters in this one (one of them is named Bunny Pringle. Seriously), and if it had been only one of a couple that had to do with adultery, it would have made a much stronger impression.
"That Dance You Do" was excellent. Depicting a suburban-dwelling mother tasked with throwing a young child's birthday party, and commenting on the mistakes and heartaches along the way was very well done. I am not a mother, but I did think that the interior thoughts of this fictional mother were right on track with the mothers I do know. I related to her strongly, despite being nowhere near living in her shoes.
Despite the two strong stories above, no one in this collection stood out. It felt like they all spoke with the same voice. It could have been the same character narrating this whole collection. They have the same attitudes towards their children (unfailing love), their friends (flawed by irreplaceable), and their affairs (not a single one of them seems to feel badly about sleeping with someone else. The apathy was something else I detested). I'm not sure I'll recall any story in particular when remembering this book (probably because they all do the same thing, commit the same wrongs). Disappointing and frustrating, really.
I read this in just two days, and found the stories to be well-written, quick reads. A central story problem really affected my reading of it, and overall I have read better story collections.
A short rant: Almost every story in here involves a woman having an affair. Wife cheats on husband, girlfriend cheats on fiance, underaged girl sleeps with her middle-aged teacher, woman thinks about cheating on her partner, etc. I think only one story had zero traces of affair/adultery (which just happened to be one of my favorites. The book depicts motherhood well, and "That Dance You Do" is particularly good).
Now, my problem is not writing about adultery itself. I am aware that, unfortunately, it happens. Quite often. That many marriages end in divorce. That people get wrapped up in this person outside of their commitment and make mistakes and blah blah blah.
BUT. This was pitched as a short story collection that celebrates women. The description of this books on websites is filled with quips and quotes of reviewers and celebrities claiming it "'gives women's interior lives the gravity they so richly deserve'" (Lena Dunham), and "'These young women are sympathetic and slyly seductive...beguilingly human, and readers will yield to their charms.'" (Kirkus (starred)). And I found that it did none of that.
My main problem stems from this: Women have so many more interesting things to say, and interesting things to do, than to have affairs. Returning to the same plot device -- an affair -- again and again not only becomes terribly repetitive, it becomes borderline offensive (at least to this reader). Heiny could have depicted any number of other "sins," weaknesses, moments of clarity for the women in her stories. And yet it's sleeping around that she chooses to highlight again and again. It's a bad story choice that irked me right up until the last story, when the first sentence mentioned a lover and a spouse, and I actually said aloud "Oh, come on!!"
Short rant over. I will move on.
Heiny includes three stories with the same characters, which I actually kind of liked amidst a collection of short stories of unrelated protagonists. I didn't find Maya or her boyfriend very likable. Or compelling. But the device of having three short stories set in the same world, spaced evenly apart in the collection was a good one.
"Blue Heron Bridge" was about cheating, but I thought it did it in almost a satire, tongue in cheek kind of way. I liked the quirky characters in this one (one of them is named Bunny Pringle. Seriously), and if it had been only one of a couple that had to do with adultery, it would have made a much stronger impression.
"That Dance You Do" was excellent. Depicting a suburban-dwelling mother tasked with throwing a young child's birthday party, and commenting on the mistakes and heartaches along the way was very well done. I am not a mother, but I did think that the interior thoughts of this fictional mother were right on track with the mothers I do know. I related to her strongly, despite being nowhere near living in her shoes.
Despite the two strong stories above, no one in this collection stood out. It felt like they all spoke with the same voice. It could have been the same character narrating this whole collection. They have the same attitudes towards their children (unfailing love), their friends (flawed by irreplaceable), and their affairs (not a single one of them seems to feel badly about sleeping with someone else. The apathy was something else I detested). I'm not sure I'll recall any story in particular when remembering this book (probably because they all do the same thing, commit the same wrongs). Disappointing and frustrating, really.
June 15, 2025
The Dive Bar - ⭐️ Literally forgot everything that happened as soon as I finished. Didn’t care about the characters or the so called illicit affair happening. It was all self inflicted.
How To Give The Wrong Impression - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ this was better, but wasn’t outstanding by any means. Could have been so much better. The beginning was a bit weak and the ending too abrupt to have any sort of deep longing impact but it was fine.
Single, Carefree, Mellow - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I seriously couldn’t give a crap about the human relationship side of this. I only cared about the bond between human and dog. Reminded me about my dog and how she passed, so that’s probably was the only reason this resonated, not the fact that this was substantially well written. I did like the final quote in this though. “There’s such a thing as too much loss. Maya understood that now”
Blue Heron Bridge - 1/2 Couldn’t be arsed to even finish this story. Dull boring and meandering. I don’t care about minister or running. I’m the wrong demographic for this.
That Dance You Do - ⭐️⭐️ It was fine, just incredibly bland. The story is about a mum putting a birthday party on for her son. Yeah that’s the full thing; nothing goes wrong or anything happens. It’s just her putting on the party and putting him to bed. Just very lifeless. It could have been very interesting.
Dark Matter - ⭐️ Literally the worst and most boring parts of Single, Carefree. Mellow. And MORE adultery is littering this anthology. I don’t care, this was really and painfully forgettable.
Cranberry Relish - ⭐️ Boring boring boring. One affair is broken up by another affair. Who cares about all these affairs going on. Find a different plot point Katherine! It’s dull and repetitive. I get that’s probably the link for the collection but it feels like she’s bartering us to death with it. She isn’t inventing the idea of affairs. It’s just the bog standard affairs in every story. Dull.
Thoughts of a Bridesmaid - ⭐️.5 I don’t know why but it has made me think of Ocean Vuongs poem “Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker” but just done so poorly in comparison. I can see what she was trying to be but it just didn’t work for me. I didn’t care about any of the characters and I didn’t care, once again, about the affair.
The Rhett Butlers - ⭐️.5 This could have been amazing, this could have been a sort of modern Lolita/Tampa vibe, but once again, this was a let down. It just didn’t dig as deep as I wanted it too. It’s not that it feels rushed but, it feels like the bones of a short story without much fleshing out of that makes any sense.
Grendel’s Mother - ⭐️ Don’t care. Couldn’t care. Boring people and their avenge boring life.
Andorra - ⭐️ More boring drivel about affairs. We get it, people have affairs. And no, we don’t care.
Overall, it feels as if Katherine Mellow is trying too hard to create something. She clearly has some skill with language and has some gems settling in her, but on the whole, it feels lisp she’s trying to conjure stories with no destination and no purpose. It feels like it’s trying to be like that TV show Girls, but failing to hold any sort of interest or excitement for the majority of its pages.
Score rounded down due to the sheer mundanity of the majority of these stories.
How To Give The Wrong Impression - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ this was better, but wasn’t outstanding by any means. Could have been so much better. The beginning was a bit weak and the ending too abrupt to have any sort of deep longing impact but it was fine.
Single, Carefree, Mellow - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I seriously couldn’t give a crap about the human relationship side of this. I only cared about the bond between human and dog. Reminded me about my dog and how she passed, so that’s probably was the only reason this resonated, not the fact that this was substantially well written. I did like the final quote in this though. “There’s such a thing as too much loss. Maya understood that now”
Blue Heron Bridge - 1/2 Couldn’t be arsed to even finish this story. Dull boring and meandering. I don’t care about minister or running. I’m the wrong demographic for this.
That Dance You Do - ⭐️⭐️ It was fine, just incredibly bland. The story is about a mum putting a birthday party on for her son. Yeah that’s the full thing; nothing goes wrong or anything happens. It’s just her putting on the party and putting him to bed. Just very lifeless. It could have been very interesting.
Dark Matter - ⭐️ Literally the worst and most boring parts of Single, Carefree. Mellow. And MORE adultery is littering this anthology. I don’t care, this was really and painfully forgettable.
Cranberry Relish - ⭐️ Boring boring boring. One affair is broken up by another affair. Who cares about all these affairs going on. Find a different plot point Katherine! It’s dull and repetitive. I get that’s probably the link for the collection but it feels like she’s bartering us to death with it. She isn’t inventing the idea of affairs. It’s just the bog standard affairs in every story. Dull.
Thoughts of a Bridesmaid - ⭐️.5 I don’t know why but it has made me think of Ocean Vuongs poem “Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker” but just done so poorly in comparison. I can see what she was trying to be but it just didn’t work for me. I didn’t care about any of the characters and I didn’t care, once again, about the affair.
The Rhett Butlers - ⭐️.5 This could have been amazing, this could have been a sort of modern Lolita/Tampa vibe, but once again, this was a let down. It just didn’t dig as deep as I wanted it too. It’s not that it feels rushed but, it feels like the bones of a short story without much fleshing out of that makes any sense.
Grendel’s Mother - ⭐️ Don’t care. Couldn’t care. Boring people and their avenge boring life.
Andorra - ⭐️ More boring drivel about affairs. We get it, people have affairs. And no, we don’t care.
Overall, it feels as if Katherine Mellow is trying too hard to create something. She clearly has some skill with language and has some gems settling in her, but on the whole, it feels lisp she’s trying to conjure stories with no destination and no purpose. It feels like it’s trying to be like that TV show Girls, but failing to hold any sort of interest or excitement for the majority of its pages.
Score rounded down due to the sheer mundanity of the majority of these stories.
March 14, 2024
"Single, Carefree, Mellow" is anything but, because its pages are fraught with adulterous intrigue! I suppose I should be shocked and turned off by the content, but to the contrary! In fact, having the theme of affairs being prevalent often allows the reader to become intimately involved with 4 characters at a time. We are cognizant of all of their opinions, interrelations and what Katherine Heiny calls their "litmus test" stories. More about that later. Furthermore, much hilarity ensues as mothers with children are caught up in their humdrum everyday lives with the backdrop of sneaking and plotting meetings with the married lover.
SCM, Katherine Heiny's first book is the second one that I've read by her. Just before that I read her last book/short story collection, "Games and Rituals: Stories," which I had happened upon at my local library in the new section. I gave it 5 stars. This one gets 4 nearly perfect stars from me perhaps because the author's skills have become even more honed from 2015 to 2023.
Let's talk some more about "litmus test" stories from the self-titled "Single, Carefree, Mellow" third story in the book. The protagonist is Maya, a woman who returns in three of SCM's tales.
p. 47 "Because Maya had a theory that everyone had a story that somehow defined them, both the good and the bad, and that these stories should be shared early on in relationships. If the other person appreciated the story, that meant you could proceed with the relationship, and if the other person failed to understand the depth of the story, or were judgmental, then there was basically no point in further contact. She thought of them as "litmus-test" stories."
This idea rings so true to me. I think all of us can probably think of a story or 2 that have defined us as a person. If a potential partner couldn't comprehend our story, or agree with its tenets, there would be no relationship to be had.
Another rare aspect to this group of stories is the use of 2nd person narrative in 2 of them. I researched this a bit and the prevalent theory was that this distanced the reader more than 1st person. I don't agree. I feel closer to the narrator with this point of view. For example, in "How to Give the Wrong Impression", the author uses this POV to demonstrate how much the protagonist loves her roommate and wishes he was her boyfriend or husband.
p. 28 "Boris, love of your life, goes to the salad bar three times and doesn't stick a black olive on each of his fingers, a thing he often does at home. On the way out, he holds your hand. You are the picture of young love. Boris may make the folks' annual Christmas letter."
All that "you" makes me feel like I'm the one in love with Boris, I don't know about YOU...
Lastly, let me share some of the hilarity, of which there is tons!
p.206 "This was how Sadie's life ticked along, not like a finely tuned engine, but like some other things that tick: noisy pipes, or a bomb."
So, take a ride on the Katherine Heiny train with me. First stop was short stories. Next stop is novels: "Standard Deviation" and "Early Morning Riser." All Abooooooard!
SCM, Katherine Heiny's first book is the second one that I've read by her. Just before that I read her last book/short story collection, "Games and Rituals: Stories," which I had happened upon at my local library in the new section. I gave it 5 stars. This one gets 4 nearly perfect stars from me perhaps because the author's skills have become even more honed from 2015 to 2023.
Let's talk some more about "litmus test" stories from the self-titled "Single, Carefree, Mellow" third story in the book. The protagonist is Maya, a woman who returns in three of SCM's tales.
p. 47 "Because Maya had a theory that everyone had a story that somehow defined them, both the good and the bad, and that these stories should be shared early on in relationships. If the other person appreciated the story, that meant you could proceed with the relationship, and if the other person failed to understand the depth of the story, or were judgmental, then there was basically no point in further contact. She thought of them as "litmus-test" stories."
This idea rings so true to me. I think all of us can probably think of a story or 2 that have defined us as a person. If a potential partner couldn't comprehend our story, or agree with its tenets, there would be no relationship to be had.
Another rare aspect to this group of stories is the use of 2nd person narrative in 2 of them. I researched this a bit and the prevalent theory was that this distanced the reader more than 1st person. I don't agree. I feel closer to the narrator with this point of view. For example, in "How to Give the Wrong Impression", the author uses this POV to demonstrate how much the protagonist loves her roommate and wishes he was her boyfriend or husband.
p. 28 "Boris, love of your life, goes to the salad bar three times and doesn't stick a black olive on each of his fingers, a thing he often does at home. On the way out, he holds your hand. You are the picture of young love. Boris may make the folks' annual Christmas letter."
All that "you" makes me feel like I'm the one in love with Boris, I don't know about YOU...
Lastly, let me share some of the hilarity, of which there is tons!
p.206 "This was how Sadie's life ticked along, not like a finely tuned engine, but like some other things that tick: noisy pipes, or a bomb."
So, take a ride on the Katherine Heiny train with me. First stop was short stories. Next stop is novels: "Standard Deviation" and "Early Morning Riser." All Abooooooard!
February 12, 2015
Every so often (and by that I mean very rarely) a book enters your life which seems to meet some deeply-subconscious, previously buried-but-intrinsic need; it seems to answer the big questions you’ve been pondering, it consumes your everyday thoughts, it gives you characters to aspire to, you feel that little bit cooler just for having it’s witty presence in your bag. You find yourself wanting to read great chunks aloud to anyone who will listen (in this case, interrupting the fiance as he struggles to read Great Expectations in the small hours), you start to wonder which character you would be if you could choose, you vow to be more like said character, you ask yourself what they would do in your sitation.
Katherine Heiny’s incredible debut short story collection Single, Carefree, Mellow is the book. I first spotted its striking red cover in the Sunday Times Style supplement, in a January ‘cool things to look forward to in 2015′ article and it was love at first sight...
(to read the full review please visit my blog https://girltwenty20.wordpress.com/20...)
Katherine Heiny’s incredible debut short story collection Single, Carefree, Mellow is the book. I first spotted its striking red cover in the Sunday Times Style supplement, in a January ‘cool things to look forward to in 2015′ article and it was love at first sight...
(to read the full review please visit my blog https://girltwenty20.wordpress.com/20...)
May 24, 2021
Now seriously considering starting a book blog just so that I'll have somewhere to rave about how brilliant Heiny is without clogging up my social media timelines.
Some of the coolest (seriously, the coolest) sentences I've read in a while.
Some of the coolest (seriously, the coolest) sentences I've read in a while.
September 24, 2025
I enjoy Katherine Heiny's writing. She makes me laugh and I'm quite okay with the odd boundary that she pushes. Her novels are terrific but I reckon it's in short stories where she really shines - there's no overdoing the joke, it's all punch-and-to-the-point.
Single, Carefree, Mellow
met my expectations.
Single, Carefree, Mellow is an even collection of eleven stories. The style is consistent and you very much know you're reading Heiny. The stories are about adult women and their (difficult) relationships, with themes focused on fidelity, manners and sex.
The thing about Heiny's stories are that they tick along nicely and then there's something that might be considered 'shocking'. It's these bits that usually make me burst out laughing (sometimes it's uncomfortable laughter). In this collection, two stories deliver this in spades. The first is The Dive Bar, where a woman, Sasha, meets the wife of the man she is having an affair with. The meeting seems almost convivial until the wife, Anne, changes tack -
Anne goes on to accuse Sasha of being a homewrecker and having no morals.
The second notable story is Dark Matter, about a woman having a fling with her boss, despite being newly engaged to be married. The story opens with -
The 'come facts' set the theme of the story, and what constitutes the betrayal is not at all what I expected. It's very funny on many levels and the cast of characters (and their quirks) is genius.
Jokes aside, Heiny writes the self-critic inner voice precisely; understands suburban lives; and captures the nuance in female friendships. These ingredients make for a cracker collection.
Single, Carefree, Mellow is my fourth collection as part of Short Story September, hosted by Lisa at ANZ LitLovers.
4/5
Single, Carefree, Mellow is an even collection of eleven stories. The style is consistent and you very much know you're reading Heiny. The stories are about adult women and their (difficult) relationships, with themes focused on fidelity, manners and sex.
The thing about Heiny's stories are that they tick along nicely and then there's something that might be considered 'shocking'. It's these bits that usually make me burst out laughing (sometimes it's uncomfortable laughter). In this collection, two stories deliver this in spades. The first is The Dive Bar, where a woman, Sasha, meets the wife of the man she is having an affair with. The meeting seems almost convivial until the wife, Anne, changes tack -
And it is at precisely this point that Anne leans forward slightly and says, "You know, Carson won't stay with you."
Sasha blinks. She had almost forgotten who Anne was.
Anne smiles grimly. "He's just c**t struck, is all."
The writer in Sasha rushes forward to examine this sentence. C**t struck. The term is so ugly, yet so arresting, that she almost admires it.
Anne goes on to accuse Sasha of being a homewrecker and having no morals.
Two things occur to Sasha at this instant. One: Having morals is not something she's ever aspired to. Successful writer, loyal friend, pretty girl; those have been goals, but she can't say moral person has ever made the list, and that's kind of startling to realize. Two (and this possibly should have occurred to her quite a while ago): She doesn't have to sit here and listen to this. She can leave.
The second notable story is Dark Matter, about a woman having a fling with her boss, despite being newly engaged to be married. The story opens with -
Here is what Maya's boss said to her after they made love the first time: "Did you know that peanuts are one of the ingredients in dynamite?" Maya stopped pulling her tights back on and stared at him. He was clearly one of those men whose brains generated arcane semi-educational tidbits of knowledge right after sex. Maya thought of them as come facts.
The 'come facts' set the theme of the story, and what constitutes the betrayal is not at all what I expected. It's very funny on many levels and the cast of characters (and their quirks) is genius.
Jokes aside, Heiny writes the self-critic inner voice precisely; understands suburban lives; and captures the nuance in female friendships. These ingredients make for a cracker collection.
Sasha looks up and sees Monique down the block, and has that thrill you get from seeing someone familiar on the streets of New York, like looking through a box of old paperbacks at a garage sale and finding a copy of a novel you love.
Single, Carefree, Mellow is my fourth collection as part of Short Story September, hosted by Lisa at ANZ LitLovers.
4/5
November 8, 2017
The question that niggled me while I was reading Single, Carefree, Mellow: When does a story collection cross the line from thematically and stylistically cohesive, to same-y?
The conclusion I reached: When the writing is this good, who cares!
The conclusion I reached: When the writing is this good, who cares!
June 25, 2018
Having been a Goodreads member since 2008 has given me the tendency to consider how many stars I'm going to rate a book even while I'm still reading it. For Single, Carefree, Mellow, I spent the majority of the time convinced I would give the book five stars.
But then I finished it and started thinking about my review and imagined dropping it down to four stars, almost exclusively because of all the affairs. But I won't - I'm going to keep it at five stars, despite all the affairs and here are the two reasons why:
1. I see readers on Goodreads all the time getting all huffy about the God-awful immoral affairs in the books they read and why would they ever condone such behavior in the books they read?? So, first off, the last thing I want to do is be perceived as one of of these readers because I am not. I don't take any moral offense to the characters in my books having affairs. I'm not saying that I don't have any moral offense to people having affairs (although who knows - if you're in some sort horrific relationship and that's your escape - who am I to judge? I'm not because that's your personal business, not mine), but rather that I don't take moral offense at fictional characters in a fictional novel having affairs. Sheesh. Some people need to remember that they are reading fiction. I'm quite convinced that a real life person who wouldn't otherwise have cause or motivation to run out and have an affair is going to read about a fictional character having an affair and drop that book and run out to find a stranger to have sex with. Rather, I thought about dropping the stars because I just became sort of fatigued over all the affairs, and thought that maybe some of these women could've had better things to do or more facets to their characters than to have an affair. But because I'm more fatigued about other readers expressing their moral outrage about all these fictional(!) characters having affairs, I'm going to stand on principle alone at five full stars.
2. When I was approved by Knopf Doubleday to read this debut collection of short stories in advance, I was somehow under the impression that it was primarily about single women making their way in the world (must've been because of the title...) and so all the affairs felt like a bit of a breach of contract. But returning to the synopsis, I see my assumption was wrong because there are all sorts of obvious and even inferred suggestions of what the reader is getting themselves into here.
And really, ultimately, it's a minor quibble (despite all my going on up there). Because, otherwise, oh my goodness, this is an awesome collection.
Primarily because Heiny is so damn incredible at relating emotions in an incisive and insightful way so that the reader know that's she's been there. And the reader knows this because the reader has been there, and only someone else who has been there could possible understand what it feels like. She writes about reasons for attractions to other people than your lover (whether you act on those attractions or not), reasons for fantasizing about breaking up (again, whether one does or not), what it's like to empathize with another person because you've gone through that rough experience yourself, and how losing a dog can be even more devastating than losing a long-term lover. Although she often skillfully changes the reader's perception and judgment of a character from the beginning of the story to the end (and in the case of Maya, through three stories, returning to this particular character at three different times in her life), sometimes the stories will end with just a sentence or two that are a bit confusing, because they seem contradictory to the personality that was built up through the narrative.
Okay, so here's the thing: With most advanced copies of books, we're not really allowed to quote from the books because the copy might change before publication, and this is often frustrating. This is particularly frustrating with this collection because I want so badly to share the funny, wise, fantastic writing here. I highlighted so many section that even if I could relate them all here, I'd be hard pressed to edit them down to the top picks. I am going to share one bit, with the caveat that this is an advanced copy, so it could change by publication but it's so heartbreakingly similar to how I felt when my little dog of sixteen and a half years passed away that I cried for several minutes after finishing the story (and I rarely cry when reading):
"She was thinking that someday, possibly very soon, she would be a single, carefree, mellow, dogless person, able to date full professors and vets and whomever else she wanted. She wished this thought made her happy. She wished she could feel anything other than the purest, most leaden, darkest gray kind of sorrow."
But then I finished it and started thinking about my review and imagined dropping it down to four stars, almost exclusively because of all the affairs. But I won't - I'm going to keep it at five stars, despite all the affairs and here are the two reasons why:
1. I see readers on Goodreads all the time getting all huffy about the God-awful immoral affairs in the books they read and why would they ever condone such behavior in the books they read?? So, first off, the last thing I want to do is be perceived as one of of these readers because I am not. I don't take any moral offense to the characters in my books having affairs. I'm not saying that I don't have any moral offense to people having affairs (although who knows - if you're in some sort horrific relationship and that's your escape - who am I to judge? I'm not because that's your personal business, not mine), but rather that I don't take moral offense at fictional characters in a fictional novel having affairs. Sheesh. Some people need to remember that they are reading fiction. I'm quite convinced that a real life person who wouldn't otherwise have cause or motivation to run out and have an affair is going to read about a fictional character having an affair and drop that book and run out to find a stranger to have sex with. Rather, I thought about dropping the stars because I just became sort of fatigued over all the affairs, and thought that maybe some of these women could've had better things to do or more facets to their characters than to have an affair. But because I'm more fatigued about other readers expressing their moral outrage about all these fictional(!) characters having affairs, I'm going to stand on principle alone at five full stars.
2. When I was approved by Knopf Doubleday to read this debut collection of short stories in advance, I was somehow under the impression that it was primarily about single women making their way in the world (must've been because of the title...) and so all the affairs felt like a bit of a breach of contract. But returning to the synopsis, I see my assumption was wrong because there are all sorts of obvious and even inferred suggestions of what the reader is getting themselves into here.
And really, ultimately, it's a minor quibble (despite all my going on up there). Because, otherwise, oh my goodness, this is an awesome collection.
Primarily because Heiny is so damn incredible at relating emotions in an incisive and insightful way so that the reader know that's she's been there. And the reader knows this because the reader has been there, and only someone else who has been there could possible understand what it feels like. She writes about reasons for attractions to other people than your lover (whether you act on those attractions or not), reasons for fantasizing about breaking up (again, whether one does or not), what it's like to empathize with another person because you've gone through that rough experience yourself, and how losing a dog can be even more devastating than losing a long-term lover. Although she often skillfully changes the reader's perception and judgment of a character from the beginning of the story to the end (and in the case of Maya, through three stories, returning to this particular character at three different times in her life), sometimes the stories will end with just a sentence or two that are a bit confusing, because they seem contradictory to the personality that was built up through the narrative.
Okay, so here's the thing: With most advanced copies of books, we're not really allowed to quote from the books because the copy might change before publication, and this is often frustrating. This is particularly frustrating with this collection because I want so badly to share the funny, wise, fantastic writing here. I highlighted so many section that even if I could relate them all here, I'd be hard pressed to edit them down to the top picks. I am going to share one bit, with the caveat that this is an advanced copy, so it could change by publication but it's so heartbreakingly similar to how I felt when my little dog of sixteen and a half years passed away that I cried for several minutes after finishing the story (and I rarely cry when reading):
"She was thinking that someday, possibly very soon, she would be a single, carefree, mellow, dogless person, able to date full professors and vets and whomever else she wanted. She wished this thought made her happy. She wished she could feel anything other than the purest, most leaden, darkest gray kind of sorrow."
February 22, 2016
Il titolo è in parte fuorviante: suggerisce atmosfere chick-lit molto svagate, ma i racconti di Katherine Heiny non sono così. Eppure c’è leggerezza nella sua scrittura; è uno stile che si ferma un passo prima di essere beffardo, e proprio perché evita di diventarlo crea un rapporto empatico tra lettori, scrittrice e personaggi. Heiny li ama, e ama chi legge il libro, ama chi vi è narrato; emana comprensione, e incoraggia il lettore a parteciparvi.
I personaggi non sono quasi mai single, e la frivolezza è qualcosa di altalenante nelle loro vite: è più che altro un’aspirazione, quella di poter vivere a cuor leggero; una condizione che nella vita reale, e in quella delle protagoniste, non si realizza quasi mai. Il titolo è tratto da un racconto su una donna che fantastica di lasciare il proprio partner per raggiungere questa condizione mitologica di “single, frivola, pronta a tutto”, ossia vivere lo stereotipo chick-lit per eccellenza. Le sue però sono solo fantasie, e la realtà non sarà mai così schematica.
I racconti di Heiny attuano un ribaltamento di questi cliché. Si parla di rapporti sentimentali, di famiglia, di sesso. Le protagoniste non sono single in carriera, ma più spesso donne che hanno bambini sbavanti da curare e mariti sonnacchiosi ma amati. Le loro passioni sono clandestine, e Heiny mostra queste situazioni nella loro normale, tranquilla quotidianità. Non c’è dramma, non c’è strazio. Non c’è giudizio, o meglio, il giudizio è che tutto sommato della vita sentimentale delle persone c’è poco da giudicare. Questo è il filo conduttore dei racconti.
Heiny ci invita a immedesimarci nelle sue protagoniste, a tifare per loro, incoraggiando il moralista a sospendere il giudizio e a mettersi nei panni degli altri. Sono personaggi che fanno considerazioni che tutti prima o poi si trovano a fare.
Il focus spesso è sull’importanza dell’amicizia tra la protagonista e un’altra donna. L’amicizia diventa un luogo mentale in cui trovare conforto quando il resto si complica, ma è anche costantemente gioiosa, parte fondamentale della vita di questi personaggi a prescindere dal resto.
I personaggi non sono quasi mai single, e la frivolezza è qualcosa di altalenante nelle loro vite: è più che altro un’aspirazione, quella di poter vivere a cuor leggero; una condizione che nella vita reale, e in quella delle protagoniste, non si realizza quasi mai. Il titolo è tratto da un racconto su una donna che fantastica di lasciare il proprio partner per raggiungere questa condizione mitologica di “single, frivola, pronta a tutto”, ossia vivere lo stereotipo chick-lit per eccellenza. Le sue però sono solo fantasie, e la realtà non sarà mai così schematica.
I racconti di Heiny attuano un ribaltamento di questi cliché. Si parla di rapporti sentimentali, di famiglia, di sesso. Le protagoniste non sono single in carriera, ma più spesso donne che hanno bambini sbavanti da curare e mariti sonnacchiosi ma amati. Le loro passioni sono clandestine, e Heiny mostra queste situazioni nella loro normale, tranquilla quotidianità. Non c’è dramma, non c’è strazio. Non c’è giudizio, o meglio, il giudizio è che tutto sommato della vita sentimentale delle persone c’è poco da giudicare. Questo è il filo conduttore dei racconti.
Heiny ci invita a immedesimarci nelle sue protagoniste, a tifare per loro, incoraggiando il moralista a sospendere il giudizio e a mettersi nei panni degli altri. Sono personaggi che fanno considerazioni che tutti prima o poi si trovano a fare.
Il focus spesso è sull’importanza dell’amicizia tra la protagonista e un’altra donna. L’amicizia diventa un luogo mentale in cui trovare conforto quando il resto si complica, ma è anche costantemente gioiosa, parte fondamentale della vita di questi personaggi a prescindere dal resto.
April 14, 2016
I found this to be a delightful and impactful read. Heiny excels at mixing humor and pathos. Here's one of my favorite parts. I think it illustrates the tone of the book perfectly:
In the days right after Josie and Billy had sex for the fourth and last time, Chicken Pox called to tell her that Diet Coke was on sale at the supermarket, two packs for ten dollars, and this put Josie in such a black mood that she lied and told Chicken Pox that she got a better deal at the supermarket way outside of town and Chicken Pox said, "Oh, my God! The twelve-packs or the twenty-four-packs?" and Josie said the twenty-four-packs, and Chicken Pox made a distressed sound and said, "How much did you pay?" and Josie told her three dollars per pack, and Chicken Pox said in a sad voice, "But you probably didn't save all that much, when you figure in the price of gas driving there," and Josie hung up because she was about to say that she had had a fifty-percent-off coupon for gas, which is, like, impossible, as far as Josie knows, and of course none of this was Chicken Pox's fault anyway.
We've all been there! Right?
A lot of the stories revolve around affairs, and I walked away from this collection thinking it was a commentary on how women often lack agency in their lives and, as a result, are forced into conventional arrangements that lead to unhappiness. But I'm not so sure it's that neat of a summation. I think there's something else below the surface that I can't see clearly. Yeah, there's a lot of ennui in the book, but there's a lot of joy too. And it's not like the characters are without resources. Most of the protagonists are financially independent and emotionally grounded. Rather the tension seems to spring from a desire to have this and that simultaneously. Maybe what's going on here is more a comment on the unsatisfactory nature of any life that requires you to pick just one path.
If you liked this, make sure to follow me on Goodreads for more reviews!
In the days right after Josie and Billy had sex for the fourth and last time, Chicken Pox called to tell her that Diet Coke was on sale at the supermarket, two packs for ten dollars, and this put Josie in such a black mood that she lied and told Chicken Pox that she got a better deal at the supermarket way outside of town and Chicken Pox said, "Oh, my God! The twelve-packs or the twenty-four-packs?" and Josie said the twenty-four-packs, and Chicken Pox made a distressed sound and said, "How much did you pay?" and Josie told her three dollars per pack, and Chicken Pox said in a sad voice, "But you probably didn't save all that much, when you figure in the price of gas driving there," and Josie hung up because she was about to say that she had had a fifty-percent-off coupon for gas, which is, like, impossible, as far as Josie knows, and of course none of this was Chicken Pox's fault anyway.
We've all been there! Right?
A lot of the stories revolve around affairs, and I walked away from this collection thinking it was a commentary on how women often lack agency in their lives and, as a result, are forced into conventional arrangements that lead to unhappiness. But I'm not so sure it's that neat of a summation. I think there's something else below the surface that I can't see clearly. Yeah, there's a lot of ennui in the book, but there's a lot of joy too. And it's not like the characters are without resources. Most of the protagonists are financially independent and emotionally grounded. Rather the tension seems to spring from a desire to have this and that simultaneously. Maybe what's going on here is more a comment on the unsatisfactory nature of any life that requires you to pick just one path.
If you liked this, make sure to follow me on Goodreads for more reviews!
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