Giraffe & Flamingo

by Curtis Sittenfeld

In this incisive short story about memory and the limits of self-perception, the New York Times bestselling author of Rodham and Prep reflects on motherhood, gender, power dynamics, and the lingering effects of the past.

Emily appears to have it all: professional success and a sweet family life. But when her promotion causes her family to relocate to a new city, the move unexpectedly stirs up unpleasant memories of Jack Olney, the handsome jock who bullied her during college.

As Emily sorts through her recollections and past humiliations, she decides to reach out to her old dorm mates. Do they remember her? Are they happy? And whatever happened to Jack?

With piercing emotional truth, Curtis Sittenfeld explores the indignities we can’t ever seem to shake—and the pitfalls of self-reflection.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Novella, Amazon, Adult

22 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2020

About the author

Curtis Sittenfeld is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including Rodham, Eligible, Prep, American Wife, and Sisterland, as well as the collection You Think It, I'll Say It. Her books have been translated into thirty languages. In addition, her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post Magazine, Esquire, and The Best American Short Stories, for which she has also been the guest editor. Her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Time, and Vanity Fair, and on public radio's This American Life.

Reviews

[Julie Ehlers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 22-page story definitely had Sittenfeld's usual acute understanding of interpersonal dynamics. It was also unusually scatological for Sittenfeld, but in an amusing way.

[Obsidian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think there's a reason why I didn't like Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride & Prejudice and it definitely shows up more in this shorty story. Sittenfeld doesn't have what i think is the necessary skillset to tell a short story. This story rambles a lot and we don't get any sense of resolution by the end. We just get a story told to us by the narrator (Emily) who apparently is overly involved with telling her children things that she should keep to herself and in what she sort of realizes is a dead marriage. We get to it through a long and winding road of her remembering being in college and how she was jealous (yeah she was) of her roommate who had 5 guys in their dorm that were in love with her. Like I said, it's a long long road.

"Giraffe & Flamingo" follows viola orchestra savant Emily. Emily and her family have moved to the Midwest for her to join an orchestra. Emily and her family settle in a place called Olneyville (I think, totally going off of memory) that has Emily recalling a boy she knew named Jack Olney who IMHO stalked and intimidated her during college. Emily starts off by discussing how her mother told stories that seemed to go nowhere and how she now does it. The only issue I had was that Emily is pretty much telling her kids that a guy intimidated her and goes into details that I was like okay then and how her former roommate had nothing but guys chasing after her.

I think the biggest issue is that I didn't get a good sense of Emily. She at times seems jealous of her roommate and there's definitely something dark about the incidents between her and Jack. When Emily gets news of him in the present day I just went well who cares. I think we're supposed to get Emily's dilemma but I did not.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curtis Sittenfeld has written a fictional short story about Emily and her life since graduation from college. Emily is fond of recounting experiences from her life to her children just as her mother did for her. One such anecdotal story comes up after her family moves to a new town that shares a similar name with a college boy she and her roommate, Grace, knew and lived with in a co-ed dormitory. Emily tells of her interactions with him, many in the co-ed bathroom, and is interested in finding out where his life took him after college. Emily soon finds out how life turned out for him and she is at a crossroads with a decision.

I enjoyed this short story because I could relate to the main character. I share with Emily a similar affinity for telling my children anecdotal stories and hope, while they may not understand it at the time, a greater understanding will come in the future and with maturity. I felt sad for Emily as she shared the bathroom incidents as she was clearly bullied and this had a lasting effect on her. I enjoyed how Emily stood up for herself, however small, during her last interaction with him. I liked how the author left Emily’s decision unmade as I believe it causes the reader to contemplate what they might do themselves. It caused me to reflect and ask: is it better to take the high road or to gloat? Overall, this was a good short story and I would recommend it to others.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing for the ARC of Giraffe and Flamingo by Curtis Sittenfeld. All opinions and thoughts written in this review are my own.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too much discussion of poop and this is just a kindle short.

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vintage Curtis Sittenfeld tale

Relationships and the occasional rude boy. Constant evaluation of where one fits in the social hierarchy, and then the maturity to no longer care as much but still look back.

But her tales are good, and this one is no exception.

I recommend it!

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a fan of her novels, but this short story did not do it for me. I think it was the ending, which did not give me any sense of completion.

[Lauri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well that’s 38 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. At least it was a free download.

[Katie Rankine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much to say about this short story. It was fine. You are just in this women's head as she thinks about her past and what life is now

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Read for free with Kindle Unlimited *

[Randi (randi_reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author has written a fictional short story about Emily and the tidbits/anecdotes she shares with her two children. (like her mother did with her.) One such memory has occurred due to a move to a new town, Olneyville, with the same name as her college dormmate. It did not bring pleasant memories for her as this boy, Jack Olney, bullied her. Emily goes on to tell her children the extent of the bullying and wonders whatever has happened to this boy. She finds her roommate, Grace, and sends her a message. Jack has not faired as well as she has since college and now has been diagnosed with ALS. Emily debates internally if this news makes her happy or sad and if she is a good or bad person.
I enjoyed this quick, short story. I found Emily’s interactions with Jack interesting and was glad to see she was able to stand up for herself (somewhat) in the end with him. I liked that the author left the ending open ended. Did Emily contact Jack, which would show off how perfect her life is or did she leave the past be in the past? It leaves the reader to think what they would do in her situation.

Thank you to Jessica at Amazon Publishing for reaching out to me with an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Madeleine]

my backlog of goodreads books has gotten very long. but this one’s up first, because a) it’s so short, and b) it’s Curtis Sittenfeld. as is typical with her writing, the prose and the dialogue were underdeveloped—but i fell in love with her uncanny, powerful conveyance of micro-stories that are just pitch-perfect at getting under your skin, & how from reading just a few sentences, you’ve suddenly lived/experienced a thrilling, vivid decade or two … i especially love the flash of the long perspective of time:



“there was a tiny kind of story my mother told when I was growing up, less a narrative than a few colorful facts. Sometimes she was sharing a tidbit about her own experiences and sometimes about those of a person she knew, or even a stranger…

they were the sort of things you carry around inside you, not because you’ve chosen to, but just because you haven’t forgotten them…

more than a decade later, the sentence still echoed in my mother’s brain on a daily basis.”


a much-needed dose of perspective. Lord knows it delivered that for me tonight :)





the stories we tell, & the stories we’ll tell our kids, & the stories they’ll tell the grandkids in turn:

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book. Hated that it was only 22 pages! Ps - thank you Goodreads for the free copy in the giveaway!

[Carol Deegan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. The stories the mother told her children were often inappropriate for children and really not worth repeating. I received a copy of this book from Good Reads. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Pam Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this author. When I downloaded the look, I knew it to be short but expected it to be longer than it was.

[Angie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very strange story. Way too much dialogue about pooping. Never did get the point of this story.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short story

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quickie but a goodie. I was also destined to be full of fun facts thanks to my mom, so I appreciate how Sittenfeld has you fall into the specifics of one story without even realizing it.

[Sarah]

2.5

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Curtis Sittenfeld books and stories so it was a no brainer I would download Giraffe & Flamingo. It was easy enough to read in one sitting. The tone/vibe of the story reminded me a lot of Prep and some of the selections in You Think It. I’ll Say It. I feel Sittenfeld has a knack for writing about that time between high school and college when you’re trying to fit in. She captures that feeling of being vulnerable and self conscious both in the moment or looking back as an adult.

[Emer Tannam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this short story. Readable and interesting

[Pennie Larina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Всё у нее прекрасно, то самого толстого романа до самой последней виньетки.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a quick read, seems as if it would be an excerpt of a longer story...heard Sittenfeld speak recently and I think I will try to read more of her work since Prep.

[Jeani · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't engage well with this story. I also did not like the audible version. The narration is distracting.

[Amy Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good author, meh story

I read the author’s collection of short stories a year ago and enjoyed them. So I was surprised by how flat this story fell for me. I think it was just very information heavy in a lot of the passages, and I would lose focus. Even in the beginning of the story, it was back to back telling of stories. And then “lessons” lined the end of the story. Not that they were invaluable or anything. But the value seemed to be dampened because instead of readers figuring the lessons out, we were told them.

It also felt like the narrator was over-intellectualizing her every memory and action, which made the story seem more exhausting rather than enjoyable. I did like the idea of how mothers and daughters can have similar conversational quirks that might not be realized until it’s too late. Overall though, there were too many moments I spaced out and had to reread for a short story.

[Bookphile · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the chatty style of this story and was very much drawn into it. However, when I finished it, I couldn't really say what it was about to me. Privilege? The general creepiness of some men? Power dynamics between the sexes? Admittedly, I'm not the biggest fan of short stories, but I do like when I walk away from them with the sense of a brief narrative having been completed, something I didn't feel here. However, I'd heard so much about Sittenfeld and was curious to see what her writing style is like, and the good news is this brief glimpse of it made me want to check out more.

[Kristine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Random and preachy

I loved the short stories in _You think it, I’ll say it_, and IMHO the reason this one wasn’t in that collection was because it stops just short of sucking. It does have some lovely moments of shiny, thoughtful prose, but more of it is loose ends that just stay loose in the air without getting tied up and randomness (an entire random two-page scene at the end of which the protagonist says “well that was random.” Uh-huh, so why did you waste my time with it?) far more irritating than thought -provoking. This one should have stayed in the drawer.

[Cynthia Meister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anecdotal genius

Sittenfeld has a way of hitting just the right note at just the right time. A story about anecdotes that touch deeply and remind us that every person we meet has a myriad of stories under the surface. What they reveal are merely remnants of bubbles on the surface. To come off as sincere and open in our assessment of self is one of the most difficult things for an author to achieve, but she manages to do so in a way that feels effortless and authentic.

[Chinara Ahmadova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anasının gəncliyindəki seçim və iradəsinin bu gün nə anlama gəldiyini anlayan gənc qızın təhkiyəsi. Kaş onu əməldə göstərərdi.

Anasının yataqxanadakı "məşhur qızlar arasında seçilməyən" həyatı peşmanlığın qarşısını alır. Əyləncəli idi, o qədər :))

[Liz Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

So relatable. This short story was served to me as an ad but having read Sittenfeld before, I decided to pick it up and I’m glad I did.

- - -
Did I cry? No.

[Mythili · Rating 2 out of 5]

Curtis Sittenfeld and I have a weird relationship. I found Prep so off-putting and yet identified so strongly with the setting and the overall feel of the unnamed boarding school that I finished the book very confused.

Just in case, but unless you're going to read Prep (which I don't really recommend) I would just click in, my thesis on Sittenfeld is here: despite having exactly -0- sex in high school, I will always distinctly remember this scene from Prep when the main character is sleeping with the popular jock in the set aside room for day students to sleep over. Sittenfeld exactly nails the weird plastic-y mattress, the way that it is the same as all the other mattresses but lacks that home-y vibe because of how that room is never decorated. The main character feels sort of connected (via the sexual connection to the popular guy) while being reminded that she's an outsider, and I have never felt so seen as a day student at a boarding school...despite the fact that my eventual frustration with the book comes from the completely unfixable alienation that our main character felt. Like, as I noted I felt very seen by that scene. But also I loved my experience at boarding school, and I left feeling like an integral part of a community.

Which is to say, based off of my vast n = 1, I felt simultaneously very seen and very disconnected from this book which includes "complicated relationships with teachers; intense friendships with other girls; an all-consuming preoccupation with a classmate who is less than a boyfriend and more than a crush; conflicts with her parents, from whom Lee feels increasingly distant, coalesce into a singular portrait of the painful and thrilling adolescence universal to us all."

This story isn't much different! I think I found myself oddly drawn to Emily's realization that she's not quite interesting enough to have been the eye of 5/6 student athletes nor good enough to be selfless nor bad enough to be schadenfreude. It's a portrait of a basic woman, which seems to fit exactly in the mental world of Sittenfeld that I've crafted in my head!