Status Updates From Misadventure

"Nightfall" was haunting and unique. Loved it.

"Misadventure," the book's title story, was absolutely brilliant. I am so enthralled, now. Wow. Talk about changing up the general, queer narrative. Just wow.

"Happy Ending" is my favorite short, as far as I've read. I connected on so many levels. Well done, Grider. The unique writing is starting to hook me (such long, methodical sentences, acutely tweaked for voice).

Hook hands for love. Face palm.

I'm not entirely sure I've read anything this strange/strangely good in a long time. That last story is a doozy. We sure are socialized weirdly in this country.

This is a really strange little collection of stories. They're quirky and odd and not really warm so much as experimental--and I would not at all be surprised if a lot of friends didn't like them. I keep thinking of the ways in which this reminds me of Susan Minot's LUST AND OTHER STORIES. And yet, I like this collection/these stories.

"...and there's a whole culture of mining humor from the absurdity of the contemporary workplace, but for Lucy it boils down to seeing to what extent she can get away with checking her email or reading blogs and tumblrs without it being a privilege that has to be taken away from her, as it was at her last job three years ago and which is why she left for a different company."

These stories are odd and strange and not at all what I usually read, but they do not bore me or piss me off or frustrate me. I'm not ready to call them "good" yet (maybe later), but they intrigue me and interest me enough to want to keep reading. And I don't get the sense that Nicholas Grider is trying too hard to be ~*literary*~. Instead, he's just weird (so, not commercial in that regard). And I kind of like that.