Rating: 
Summary: a wonderful collection
Review: after reading lorrie moore's debut collection you don't wonder where her reputation comes from, you know. moore's stories are about love and loss. she uses a very interesting voice in this collection and parodies the self-help books that were over-abundant in the 80s. and she is very successful in her efforts. this collection shows why moore is considered one of the modern masters of the short story.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch Out, Amy Tan
Review: After reading the many good reviews about nearly all of Lorrie Moore's books on amazon, I went to the library and checked out Birds of America, Self-Help, Frog motel whatnot, and Anagrams. I read the first stories from Birds of American and Self-Help and was reminded that there are some truly terrible writers out there; Lorrie Moore is the worst I have read lately. She writes like some graduate student doing a theses on The Joy Luck Club while weeping and staring into the distance. But...if you happened to like the Joy Luck Club, and perhaps loved the movie Steel Magnolias - man, rush out and by everything you can find by this genius.
Rating:
Summary: Lorrie Moore has helped me love women more
Review: How's that for a self-help book. Moore's prose is brilliant; her style, unrefined and beautiful. I like this collection because it has the edge too much editing can kill. Read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Lorrie Moore, Self Help
Review: I first read Lorie Moores work in the absolutely putrid "Best American Short Stories 1999", compiled by none other than the awful Amy Tan. Keeping true to form, Ms. Tan ruined what has come to be one of the best annual collections of short stories, by including a bevy of boring, listless, absurd stories, one of which was written by Moore.
The story, of which I have forgotten the name, was about womanhood, angst, affairs and other such staples of feminine writing. (In an effort to not be seen as a vehement chauvinist, I would like to point out my interest and general enjoyment in the stories of Alice Munroe, Jhumpa Lhiri and other exceptionally talented woman writers. End of disclaimer.) She went out of her way to be delightfully "kooky" by, (Oh my God this is SO original), writing a full page of HA!'s. As in "HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!" for a whole page. Yes, to some this may come accross as a truly brilliant idea, a veritable stroke of genius, intelligence, originality and so on, so on. In my case, it came off as the work of a writer suffering from either A) ADD B) Too much cafeine and/or sugar C) Cocaine Abuse. Dont get me wrong, I have nothing against writers that are funny or original in the way they write, or what they write about, but this is just too over the top. Maybe in Ms. Moores crazy little mind, this all makes sense, and is just one big laugh, but for Gods Sake, why didnt I get it?
Rating:
Summary: Lorrie Moore, Self Help
Review: I first read Lorie Moores work in the absolutely putrid "Best American Short Stories 1999", compiled by none other than the awful Amy Tan. Keeping true to form, Ms. Tan ruined what has come to be one of the best annual collections of short stories, by including a bevy of boring, listless, absurd stories, one of which was written by Moore.
The story, of which I have forgotten the name, was about womanhood, angst, affairs and other such staples of feminine writing. (In an effort to not be seen as a vehement chauvinist, I would like to point out my interest and general enjoyment in the stories of Alice Munroe, Jhumpa Lhiri and other exceptionally talented woman writers. End of disclaimer.) She went out of her way to be delightfully "kooky" by, (Oh my God this is SO original), writing a full page of HA!'s. As in "HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!" for a whole page. Yes, to some this may come accross as a truly brilliant idea, a veritable stroke of genius, intelligence, originality and so on, so on. In my case, it came off as the work of a writer suffering from either A) ADD B) Too much cafeine and/or sugar C) Cocaine Abuse. Dont get me wrong, I have nothing against writers that are funny or original in the way they write, or what they write about, but this is just too over the top. Maybe in Ms. Moores crazy little mind, this all makes sense, and is just one big laugh, but for Gods Sake, why didnt I get it?
Rating: 
Summary: More like 3.5 stars
Review: I love Moore's writing, but this volume is inconsistent. When it's bad, it's simply melodramatic, and when it's worse, it hardly makes any sense.
However, "Self-Help" is worth buying for the wonderful "How to Be an Other Woman" which catches Moore at her best, teetering on the razor-thin border between hilarity and pathos.
"How to Become a Writer" is also worth mentioning, followed at a distance by "Amahl and the Night Visitors" and "To Fill".
Rating:
Summary: Depressing stuff, but so is most emotionally evocative fare
Review: I love short stories, mainly because I don't have the patience to get through the likes of War and Peace, or even Crime and Punishment, for that matter. I also seem to enjoy contemporary authors over authors of other time periods for the most part. The first short story that I remember capturing my full attention was "Desiree's Baby" by Kate Chopin. Love those surprise endings. That's why I used to like the tv show "The Practice" because of those twists at the end.Back to Self-Help: this book is a collection of vignettes, including the first, and my favorite "How to be an Other Woman." Lorrie Moore is such a genius because she includes a lot of wordplay in her writing, i.e. "How to be (an)other woman"- that makes reading her a delight. But I was also impressed by the imagery in her writing and the symbolism in the protagonists' often bizarre behavior, i.e. wearing their coats indoors symbolizes the characters' fears of intimacy. In a way, the writing is poetic and reminds me of some of Margaret Atwood's poetry, especially her poem with the line "Love is a many splendoured thing." I can't say I enjoyed the rest of the stories as much as the first one, but then again, we can't be 100% effective all the time. A funny story about this book, when I was a senior in college my roommate Nicole wanted something to read for leisure that I recommended, as I was an English major, and I gave her this off my shelf. She came back saying this was the most depressing thing she had ever read. So it's not for the faint of heart!
Rating:
Summary: you need to read this, you really really do.
Review: I love this book, and I love Lorrie Moore. Her writing is amazing and (dare I say it?) "fresh"; and every page I read just makes me want to quote her. "Look at this," I want to say to innocent people, "look at this, and don't tell me you don't think she's brilliant!"
Rating:
Summary: Stunning, moving. A necessary read.
Review: In her book of short stories, Lorrie Moore has crafted astyle that draws the reader into a world that is distinctyet eerily familiar. For women especially, "Self Help" is a stunning necessary read, as Moore creates characters that are real and sypathetic. Written mostly in second person, this is a fascinating collection of works that should be on every woman's reading list.
Rating:
Summary: You. Go. Girl.
Review: Looking for something strong, vulnerable, funny, different, and as existentially confused as you have the pretension of imagining yourself, you find this. Here. This odd little flimsy awkwardly-colored book. It doesn't even have the snobbery of girth or weight. And, paging through the pulpy pages, you slowly start nodding. Yes. Yeah. You. Go. Girl. If we all could find a voice of pathos and verve echoing the ingenuity and authenticity of Moore's, this might not be such a miserable mess of a culture. I can't overemphasize how precious this book is. Men might admire it, but women will lift it over their heads and holler. You. Go. Girl.
|
