No one likes being told they have to do something.

So instead of saying, you have to read this book, I’ll just say that if you don’t, no big deal, you just might forever regret it and possibly live a less fulfilled life.

Thank you, AB, for recommending this delicious box of sophisticated literary cupcakes. Edith Pearlman’s ideas are detailed and complex; her writing is clean, impressively economical. She wastes no words, but she doesn’t skimp, either. I like when short stories crack open people I might otherwise never have known existed or thought to give a shit about. And then, by the time the story’s over, I see these people as clearly as I (occasionally) see myself. It’s also pretty cool when the narrative of said stories quietly pads along, then, unblinkingly, takes an unexpected turn, and just carries you - wide-eyed and open-mouthed - along to its end. Edith Pearlman does this. And she does it well. 

You might wanna read this book.