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Cost of Lunch, Etc.
Marge Piercy’s debut collection of short stories, The Cost of Lunch, Etc. , brings us glimpses into the lives of everyday women moving through and making sense of their daily internal and external worlds. Keeping to the engaging, accessible language of Piercy’s novels, the collection spans decades of her writing along with a range of locations, ages, and emotional states of her protagonists. From the first-person account of hoarding (“Saving Mother from Herself”) to a girl’s narrative of sexual and spiritual discovery (“Going over Jordan”) to a recount of a past love affair (“The Easy Arrangement”) each story is a tangible, vivid snapshot in a varied and subtly curated gallery of work. Whether grappling with death, familial relationships, friendship, sex, illness, or religion, Piercy’s writing is as passionate, lucid, insightful, and thoughtfully alive as ever. The paperback edition contains two additional short stories and a new introduction from the author.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
28 people are currently reading
491 people want to read
About the author
Marge Piercy
113 books924 followersMarge Piercy is an American poet, novelist, and social activist. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Gone to Soldiers, a sweeping historical novel set during World War II.
Piercy was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a family deeply affected by the Great Depression. She was the first in her family to attend college, studying at the University of Michigan. Winning a Hopwood Award for Poetry and Fiction (1957) enabled her to finish college and spend some time in France, and her formal schooling ended with an M.A. from Northwestern University. Her first book of poems, Breaking Camp, was published in 1968.
An indifferent student in her early years, Piercy developed a love of books when she came down with rheumatic fever in her mid-childhood and could do little but read. "It taught me that there's a different world there, that there were all these horizons that were quite different from what I could see," she said in a 1984 interview.
As of 2013, she is author of seventeen volumes of poems, among them The Moon is Always Female (1980, considered a feminist classic) and The Art of Blessing the Day (1999), as well as fifteen novels, one play (The Last White Class, co-authored with her third and current husband Ira Wood), one collection of essays (Parti-colored Blocks for a Quilt), one non-fiction book, and one memoir.
Her novels and poetry often focus on feminist or social concerns, although her settings vary. While Body of Glass (published in the US as He, She and It) is a science fiction novel that won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, City of Darkness, City of Light is set during the French Revolution. Other of her novels, such as Summer People and The Longings of Women are set during the modern day. All of her books share a focus on women's lives.
Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) mixes a time travel story with issues of social justice, feminism, and the treatment of the mentally ill. This novel is considered a classic of utopian "speculative" science fiction as well as a feminist classic. William Gibson has credited Woman on the Edge of Time as the birthplace of Cyberpunk. Piercy tells this in an introduction to Body of Glass. Body of Glass (He, She and It) (1991) postulates an environmentally ruined world dominated by sprawling mega-cities and a futuristic version of the Internet, through which Piercy weaves elements of Jewish mysticism and the legend of the Golem, although a key story element is the main character's attempts to regain custody of her young son.
Many of Piercy's novels tell their stories from the viewpoints of multiple characters, often including a first-person voice among numerous third-person narratives. Her World War II historical novel, Gone To Soldiers (1987) follows the lives of nine major characters in the United States, Europe and Asia. The first-person account in Gone To Soldiers is the diary of French teenager Jacqueline Levy-Monot, who is also followed in a third-person account after her capture by the Nazis.
Piercy's poetry tends to be highly personal free verse and often addresses the same concern with feminist and social issues. Her work shows commitment to the dream of social change (what she might call, in Judaic terms, tikkun olam, or the repair of the world), rooted in story, the wheel of the Jewish year, and a range of landscapes and settings.
She lives in Wellfleet on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with her husband, Ira Wood.
(from Wikipedia)
Piercy was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a family deeply affected by the Great Depression. She was the first in her family to attend college, studying at the University of Michigan. Winning a Hopwood Award for Poetry and Fiction (1957) enabled her to finish college and spend some time in France, and her formal schooling ended with an M.A. from Northwestern University. Her first book of poems, Breaking Camp, was published in 1968.
An indifferent student in her early years, Piercy developed a love of books when she came down with rheumatic fever in her mid-childhood and could do little but read. "It taught me that there's a different world there, that there were all these horizons that were quite different from what I could see," she said in a 1984 interview.
As of 2013, she is author of seventeen volumes of poems, among them The Moon is Always Female (1980, considered a feminist classic) and The Art of Blessing the Day (1999), as well as fifteen novels, one play (The Last White Class, co-authored with her third and current husband Ira Wood), one collection of essays (Parti-colored Blocks for a Quilt), one non-fiction book, and one memoir.
Her novels and poetry often focus on feminist or social concerns, although her settings vary. While Body of Glass (published in the US as He, She and It) is a science fiction novel that won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, City of Darkness, City of Light is set during the French Revolution. Other of her novels, such as Summer People and The Longings of Women are set during the modern day. All of her books share a focus on women's lives.
Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) mixes a time travel story with issues of social justice, feminism, and the treatment of the mentally ill. This novel is considered a classic of utopian "speculative" science fiction as well as a feminist classic. William Gibson has credited Woman on the Edge of Time as the birthplace of Cyberpunk. Piercy tells this in an introduction to Body of Glass. Body of Glass (He, She and It) (1991) postulates an environmentally ruined world dominated by sprawling mega-cities and a futuristic version of the Internet, through which Piercy weaves elements of Jewish mysticism and the legend of the Golem, although a key story element is the main character's attempts to regain custody of her young son.
Many of Piercy's novels tell their stories from the viewpoints of multiple characters, often including a first-person voice among numerous third-person narratives. Her World War II historical novel, Gone To Soldiers (1987) follows the lives of nine major characters in the United States, Europe and Asia. The first-person account in Gone To Soldiers is the diary of French teenager Jacqueline Levy-Monot, who is also followed in a third-person account after her capture by the Nazis.
Piercy's poetry tends to be highly personal free verse and often addresses the same concern with feminist and social issues. Her work shows commitment to the dream of social change (what she might call, in Judaic terms, tikkun olam, or the repair of the world), rooted in story, the wheel of the Jewish year, and a range of landscapes and settings.
She lives in Wellfleet on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with her husband, Ira Wood.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
December 3, 2016
My head has been swimming in the last two weeks, Piercy's The Cost of Lunch, Etc. kept me coming back regardless. Review to come!
September 15, 2020
A quietly biting collection of short stories looking in on the lives of women over the last four or five decades as they imagine their futures, careers, and romances. Overall, the stories are depressing--failed relationships, disappointing men, suffocating domesticity. And yet, there's something also threading through that's optimistic. These women have a core of strength in the midst of the stories--they strive for more, they pull out of the disappointing relationships, and some of them find contentment.
The writing is strong. The stories gave me something to think about. I think this little collection will stay with me for a while.
The writing is strong. The stories gave me something to think about. I think this little collection will stay with me for a while.
April 18, 2024
To me, this is perfect. I loved each story and was instantly captivated. The collection covers such a vast range of experiences but they go together to beautifully. I love women and I love this book!
August 14, 2017
Have some candy while reading this book, because that’s the only sweetness you’ll get.
Most of these stories made me feel as if I had walked into the middle of a conversation and then was forced to be a part of it. Except for the story, Saving Mother from Herself, I felt indifferent to the characters. By the time I finished reading these stories, I was irritated.
In Somebody Who Understands You, a bitter male professor dispenses advice on the future to a couple of female students by stating they had nothing to look forward to but the five Ds: “dishes, daddy, diapers, discontent and then finally divorce.” But he forgot a sixth D, depressing, which is what this collection is. There are some of us who feel there is more to life than this cynicism.
I’m giving this three stars only because Marge Piercy is a good writer.
The Beatles Revolver is mentioned in the story The Border so I had to go play it; it made me feel a little better.
Most of these stories made me feel as if I had walked into the middle of a conversation and then was forced to be a part of it. Except for the story, Saving Mother from Herself, I felt indifferent to the characters. By the time I finished reading these stories, I was irritated.
In Somebody Who Understands You, a bitter male professor dispenses advice on the future to a couple of female students by stating they had nothing to look forward to but the five Ds: “dishes, daddy, diapers, discontent and then finally divorce.” But he forgot a sixth D, depressing, which is what this collection is. There are some of us who feel there is more to life than this cynicism.
I’m giving this three stars only because Marge Piercy is a good writer.
The Beatles Revolver is mentioned in the story The Border so I had to go play it; it made me feel a little better.
December 15, 2020
“She imagines a bed that will be all her own in a place that will be tiny but light and hers alone.” These stories capture a grittiness that I love about women and the will for agency in a world likes to say no. A young woman who agrees to go out with a creepy married guy to a jazz club so she can meet a famous poet she admires. An activist who ferries to Canada guys dodging the Vietnam draft. A writer who gets a teaching gig near her lover who resents her moving into town. These stories are of another time and also of our time. Some of the themes were similar to Deborah Levy’s The Cost of Living.
February 11, 2019
Some of these stories were really great. My favorite was “What Remains” about a woman who loses her sister to cancer and inherits her cats, and I also enjoyed “Saving Mother From Herself”, about a hoarder. “She’s Dying, He Said” is a touching story of a Jewish grandmother doting on her ill grandchild.
None of these stories is uplifting, just to warn you. But, they are well written and you’ll certainly find your own favorites.
None of these stories is uplifting, just to warn you. But, they are well written and you’ll certainly find your own favorites.
October 20, 2023
I am a huge Marge Piercy fan. In these very short snippets of different women’s lives, we meet such interesting and complex individuals. No two women are the same in this book and I found them to be relatable in different ways. Shout out to Miss Marge. I am a loyal fan 🤣 so I apologize if ur experience reading wasn’t the same.
September 29, 2017
This book just didn't do it for me. Most of the stories didn't hold my interest and I found many of the characters and much of the writing style obnoxious.
March 9, 2018
I especially enjoyed the stories about the female 60s activists.
August 13, 2018
I love Marge Piercy's books and her short stories were amazing.
February 2, 2020
I did not enjoy her short story writing as much as I enjoyed her poetry but she presents some very vivid and interesting character moments.
August 11, 2021
these stories are very straightforward. it’s far from the style of writing i mimic, but represents an educational read that i appreciated
January 28, 2022
marge baby i love YOU
Read
April 13, 2023These made me want to write about my own life.
December 1, 2023
By far my favorite collection of short stories I’ve read this year.
February 1, 2024
Interconnected short stories about a group of aging friends.
May 1, 2024
Time Spent Reading: 3 hours, 50 minutes
November 28, 2016
I received a copy from a Goodreads first reads giveaway.
22 short stories examine the lives of women with a feminist lens through modern day and as early as 1940s to 70s America. Most are fairly short, and kind of like autobiographical sketches.
“The Cost of Lunch, Etc.”
The title story explores the power dynamics between a young woman and aspiring poet invited to lunch with a professor and a famous poet.
“Saving Mother From Herself”
A hoarder gets an intervention from her daughter and becomes a TV spectacle when all she wants is to hold onto the life she wants to live—a compassionate look at the topic of hoarding.
“Going Over Jordan”
A young girl reflects on her religious upbringing and her friendship—a genuine struggle about finding oneself.
“Scars”
A trip to Cuba explores a woman’s modesty related to scars from helping others.
“She’s Dying, He Said”
A Jewish woman reflects on a fever she survived as a child, believed to have been saved by her grandmother’s prayers.
“Somebody Who Understands You”
An English teacher every girl looks up to guides a girl down a questionable route.
“Do You Love Me?”
A woman has to choose between marriage despite the possibility of her partner not loving her or her own feelings and wants.
“The Retreat”
A woman tries to find her own refuge in a cold marriage.
“What Remains”
This story explores two sisters, one dying from cancer and the gift of a family she gives.
“The Border”
A woman activist helps men avoid the draft for the Vietnam war by driving them to Canada.
“I Had a Friend”
A reflection of a friend who tried to find meaning in his life and the many things he tried—an existential tragedy.
“Ring Around the Kleinbottle”
Three women become enamored with a man who just dumped one of their old roommates.
“The Shrine”
A daughter reconciles with her mother nearing the end of her life, exploring her feelings and duties through the rest of her life and family.
“The Easy Arrangement”
Another story about an affair and the double standards women have.
“What the Arbor Said”
A widower captures a woman’s attention from her marriage.
“Fog”
A lesbian couple’s relationship changes when a partner has to cope with the other being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
“What and When I Promised”
A glimpse into post WWII of Jewish American culture and a girl’s promise to her grandmother.
“Little Sister, Cat and Mouse”
A story about two friends as close as sisters and conflicting over another guy and pregnancy.
“I Wasn’t Losing My Mind”
When her mother’s necklace goes missing, a daughter tracks down the thief.
“How to Seduce a Feminist (or Not)”
A pretty entertaining set of situations of feminists going on dates with men who seem compatible but turn out selfish and egotistical.
“The Secret of My Marriage”
A story of marriage in a village with religious undertones.
“What Is the Meaning of This?”
Another professor/writer in an open relationship takes interest in another woman.
While I enjoyed some of the characters, I noticed a “sameness” to many of the stories dealing with similar themes and experiences of writers, professors and men with huge egos. This made it difficult to find standouts and crappy ones, so it gave the quality an evenness. I also felt while these were great sketches and ideas, most of the stories covered a great length of time and backstory and led many to rely on telling (though the prose was fine). Overall, I did find the experiences conveyed in the collection enlightening about the experiences of women across different time periods.
22 short stories examine the lives of women with a feminist lens through modern day and as early as 1940s to 70s America. Most are fairly short, and kind of like autobiographical sketches.
“The Cost of Lunch, Etc.”
The title story explores the power dynamics between a young woman and aspiring poet invited to lunch with a professor and a famous poet.
“Saving Mother From Herself”
A hoarder gets an intervention from her daughter and becomes a TV spectacle when all she wants is to hold onto the life she wants to live—a compassionate look at the topic of hoarding.
“Going Over Jordan”
A young girl reflects on her religious upbringing and her friendship—a genuine struggle about finding oneself.
“Scars”
A trip to Cuba explores a woman’s modesty related to scars from helping others.
“She’s Dying, He Said”
A Jewish woman reflects on a fever she survived as a child, believed to have been saved by her grandmother’s prayers.
“Somebody Who Understands You”
An English teacher every girl looks up to guides a girl down a questionable route.
“Do You Love Me?”
A woman has to choose between marriage despite the possibility of her partner not loving her or her own feelings and wants.
“The Retreat”
A woman tries to find her own refuge in a cold marriage.
“What Remains”
This story explores two sisters, one dying from cancer and the gift of a family she gives.
“The Border”
A woman activist helps men avoid the draft for the Vietnam war by driving them to Canada.
“I Had a Friend”
A reflection of a friend who tried to find meaning in his life and the many things he tried—an existential tragedy.
“Ring Around the Kleinbottle”
Three women become enamored with a man who just dumped one of their old roommates.
“The Shrine”
A daughter reconciles with her mother nearing the end of her life, exploring her feelings and duties through the rest of her life and family.
“The Easy Arrangement”
Another story about an affair and the double standards women have.
“What the Arbor Said”
A widower captures a woman’s attention from her marriage.
“Fog”
A lesbian couple’s relationship changes when a partner has to cope with the other being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
“What and When I Promised”
A glimpse into post WWII of Jewish American culture and a girl’s promise to her grandmother.
“Little Sister, Cat and Mouse”
A story about two friends as close as sisters and conflicting over another guy and pregnancy.
“I Wasn’t Losing My Mind”
When her mother’s necklace goes missing, a daughter tracks down the thief.
“How to Seduce a Feminist (or Not)”
A pretty entertaining set of situations of feminists going on dates with men who seem compatible but turn out selfish and egotistical.
“The Secret of My Marriage”
A story of marriage in a village with religious undertones.
“What Is the Meaning of This?”
Another professor/writer in an open relationship takes interest in another woman.
While I enjoyed some of the characters, I noticed a “sameness” to many of the stories dealing with similar themes and experiences of writers, professors and men with huge egos. This made it difficult to find standouts and crappy ones, so it gave the quality an evenness. I also felt while these were great sketches and ideas, most of the stories covered a great length of time and backstory and led many to rely on telling (though the prose was fine). Overall, I did find the experiences conveyed in the collection enlightening about the experiences of women across different time periods.
September 27, 2016
Worthy of a paced read. Great variety. Well written. REAL people with complicated lives and relationships.
March 10, 2014
I have long been a fan of Marge Piercy's work. The last Piercy book I read was her literary memoir, SLEEPING WITH CATS, which I loved. Before that I had much enjoyed SMALL CHANGES, GONE TO SOLDIERS and SUMMER PEOPLE. I realize that this is only a small fraction of her prolific output, and now, having read her latest, a short story collection (her first) called THE COST OF LUNCH, ETC., my appetite has been whetted for more of Piercy.
Because THE COST OF LUNCH, ETC. is a masterful, mesmerizing set of twenty stories, each one an absolute gem which left me wondering how Piercy is able to create such real, believable breathing characters in just a dozen pages or, often, even less. There is the eccentric widow, whose grown children see her as a 'hoarder' and whose thoughts and activities do indeed place her squarely into that category so recently exploited on cable TV ("Saving Mother from Herself"). And the middle-aged wife kissed by a neighbor, who wonders if her husband still cares, remembering a time when "he loved her till the ceiling went away and her eyes fell back in her head" ("What the Arbor Said"). In "Fog" a woman is confronted with her long-time partner's early onset Alzheimer's and thinks, "I have a child but she is growing backwards into babbling and then silence. But I made a commitment: partners for life."
Much is made in several of the (obviously autobiographical) stories here of Piercy's feelings about being a Jew in a non-observant family and how, as a small child, she loved visiting her Orthodox Jewish grandmother in Cleveland, where she accompanied her to temple and shul. In "What and When I Promised" the ten year-old narrator tries to comfort her grandmother Hannah, whose whole family was lost to the Holocaust, and tells her: "Grandma, I will always be a Jew. No matter what, I will remain a Jew so long as I live ... And I have kept that promise ever since."
In more than a few of these stories the narrator describes a distant father who wanted a son, and was disappointed at having a daughter. Reading these, I was suddenly reminded of a song from the seventies, Lori Jacobs' "Constant Disappointment" - "I've been a constant disappointment all my life/To the people in my life/Who say they really care." And, in one of my everything-is-connected musings, I wondered if Jacobs had ever read Piercy, or if Piercy had ever heard Jacobs's song.
Bottom line: these are simply wonderful stories. HIGHLY recommended.
Because THE COST OF LUNCH, ETC. is a masterful, mesmerizing set of twenty stories, each one an absolute gem which left me wondering how Piercy is able to create such real, believable breathing characters in just a dozen pages or, often, even less. There is the eccentric widow, whose grown children see her as a 'hoarder' and whose thoughts and activities do indeed place her squarely into that category so recently exploited on cable TV ("Saving Mother from Herself"). And the middle-aged wife kissed by a neighbor, who wonders if her husband still cares, remembering a time when "he loved her till the ceiling went away and her eyes fell back in her head" ("What the Arbor Said"). In "Fog" a woman is confronted with her long-time partner's early onset Alzheimer's and thinks, "I have a child but she is growing backwards into babbling and then silence. But I made a commitment: partners for life."
Much is made in several of the (obviously autobiographical) stories here of Piercy's feelings about being a Jew in a non-observant family and how, as a small child, she loved visiting her Orthodox Jewish grandmother in Cleveland, where she accompanied her to temple and shul. In "What and When I Promised" the ten year-old narrator tries to comfort her grandmother Hannah, whose whole family was lost to the Holocaust, and tells her: "Grandma, I will always be a Jew. No matter what, I will remain a Jew so long as I live ... And I have kept that promise ever since."
In more than a few of these stories the narrator describes a distant father who wanted a son, and was disappointed at having a daughter. Reading these, I was suddenly reminded of a song from the seventies, Lori Jacobs' "Constant Disappointment" - "I've been a constant disappointment all my life/To the people in my life/Who say they really care." And, in one of my everything-is-connected musings, I wondered if Jacobs had ever read Piercy, or if Piercy had ever heard Jacobs's song.
Bottom line: these are simply wonderful stories. HIGHLY recommended.
February 21, 2017
Just a simple little book of short stories about women and the lives they lead. A pleasant and insightful read.
January 17, 2015
Marge Piercy is my all-time favorite writer and I loved this book like all the rest. Some of the stories seemed like absolute fiction and others read like memoir. All the characters were vivid and the stories were hard to put down. Piercy has a way of establishing an emotional connection with characters that brings them to life and into your heart.
One sobering facet of this book is that it seems to me that we've made so little progress socially. For example, I love this excerpt and I think nearly every woman I know could say the same thing:
"After being married for nine years, it was a great relief to have frequent male companionship and sex without having to do his laundry, cook his meals, worry about his health, listen to his insecurities and in general provide upkeep and free therapy."
To think that women are still saying this fifty years after the feminist movement began is incredibly sad to me. But I'm so glad Piercy is still speaking out and in such an entertaining way.
One sobering facet of this book is that it seems to me that we've made so little progress socially. For example, I love this excerpt and I think nearly every woman I know could say the same thing:
"After being married for nine years, it was a great relief to have frequent male companionship and sex without having to do his laundry, cook his meals, worry about his health, listen to his insecurities and in general provide upkeep and free therapy."
To think that women are still saying this fifty years after the feminist movement began is incredibly sad to me. But I'm so glad Piercy is still speaking out and in such an entertaining way.
June 14, 2014
This author is cynical. The only story I felt to be really insightful and heart endearing was about the woman hoarder. Still, even that felt flat. Her view of women's lives is fake, flawed. The cost of lunch . . . fitting title. No depth except in its eccentricity. I think I read it about as intended: dispassionate. Pitied the women but never felt for them. Definitely pitied them along with the author who must have a very unfulfilled life of real love that comes from commitment to people, not causes. And yet she writes about that very thing. I'll not read another one of hers.
I just spent some time looking at the cover, of one hummingbird preying on the other. That describes the short stories. All about one person preying on the other, failing to achieve real contact and love. Shifting from affair to affair, always trying to find real meaning, always failing to find it. I resent the idea that this is representative of a woman's lot in life.
I just spent some time looking at the cover, of one hummingbird preying on the other. That describes the short stories. All about one person preying on the other, failing to achieve real contact and love. Shifting from affair to affair, always trying to find real meaning, always failing to find it. I resent the idea that this is representative of a woman's lot in life.
October 7, 2016
The content of a few of the stories ("What I promised and why" especially) tugs, painfully, in a good way painfully, the way a story should. Some others almost make me cringe in their honesty. But overall - something is missing. In the language? In the context, this being more sketches than stories? In the mix between the real and the imaginary, the fact, that it is unclear which stories are fictionalized reality and which pure fiction? Especially with "what I promised" I need to know whether this is real; the topic is too much, too painful, too close to leave it unclear. Which is strange, I never felt this way about Christa Wolf and how her stories merge fictionalize reality, but perhaps because there it seems to be more on purpose, written with more skill - which is a strange thing to say, I know Piercy *is* skilful in her other work that I love. Oh well. I guess this may just nit have been the right collection for me. (I'm still glad I've read it.)
June 3, 2014
Marge Piercy can do anything. This is her first collection of short stories, although I think they were written over a number of years. Absolutely every bit as good as her novels and her poetry, and she makes it look so easy, when you read from the view of a writer. I struggle with character development and she makes it look like her characters just drip off her pen. I love every one of them! Even the ones I hate because of who they are. I'm sure she does plenty of revising but she is one writer who has certainly not gotten the credit she deserves. She should be spoken of in the same sentence with Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou and writers like that and often she is not. She deserves more credit.
May 18, 2014
Piercy writes simply, beautifully, and movingly stories that matter. She writes often from a female perspective stories that reveal the inner nature of love and longing, of independence and belonging, and of genuineness. Via fiction like this can we understand what it means to live as a human, delicately and vulernably, in this world with so many others around us with sides to them both inspiring and reprehensible. Reading Piercy's stories reminds you of the many facets of goodness, decency, and integrity in people. A wonderful story teller, she engages the reader with her stories and ends them beautifully as well.
April 29, 2014
I've read all of Piercy's novels and most of her poetry. Her work bears witness to the experience and commitments of radicals who came of age in the 1960s, and of women shaped by the second wave of feminism. Anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of that history and of the ongoing activism of people formed by it should read Piercy. But…start anywhere but here. This collection does a huge disservice to the writer. The short story is not her genre, and only three or four of the twenty pieces included here are worth reading.
October 15, 2014
Marge Piercy comes from a non-traditional line of writing... working-class if you will have a name for it...and these stories have the hard won realism of writers like Theodore Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, and Tillie Olsen. If you can't groove with that strong world view, you may not like the fiction. I do very much and feel at home in her work. She is a crafts-person, and her work rings true to the very grain of life today and yesterday. This is a fine collection from PM Books.
October 24, 2014
I have long read and loved Piercy.
This anthology, which often seems more memoir, falls flat for this reader.
Big time and character span; some overlapping.
The usual sense of detail is firm.
Maybe it's my aging status, but somehow most of the stories read flat and unnerving. Seems like so many characters have divested themselves of meaning or verve.
The cloak of the victim seems to darken too much.
This anthology, which often seems more memoir, falls flat for this reader.
Big time and character span; some overlapping.
The usual sense of detail is firm.
Maybe it's my aging status, but somehow most of the stories read flat and unnerving. Seems like so many characters have divested themselves of meaning or verve.
The cloak of the victim seems to darken too much.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews