Customer Reviews

Love Stories in This Town

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I loved this collection from start to finish, which is very unusual for me. The prose was spare and minimal, yet the smallest details seemed to illuminate the characters and their world. Ward is often fun and witty here, but what I found most engaging about this collection was how the characters haunted me afterwards. With subtlety and a soft-touch, the author gets to the heart of the matter each and every time. Even reading the story about a 9/11 widow, I never felt as if the events drove the writing. It's all about the characters here. They feel organic, real, and brimming with stories worth hearing.

BOOK REVIEW: Sense of Place Explored in Amanda Eyre Ward's 'Love Stories in This Town'

By David M. Kinchen


Where you live can affect just about everything in your life; that's the intriguing premise explored by Amanda Eyre Ward in her collection of 12 short stories, "Love Stories in This Town" (Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Original, 224 pages, $14).

The first six stories explore six different characters and how they relate to where they live; the remaining half dozen -- "Lola Stories" -- deal with Lola Wilkerson's complicated loves and her search for what she wants to do when she grows up -- and her interaction with her alcoholic father and disapproving mother-in-law.

In the first section, in the story "The Way the Sky Changed," Casey, a 9/11 widow living in a New York suburb, tentatively begins dating again -- with a 9/11 widower. She lost her lawyer husband Paul in the attack on the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Her friends introduce her to Kent, who lost his software saleswoman wife Wendy who was on Flight 11. Humor and tragedy collide in this perfect-pitch penned story.

In "Butte As In Beautiful," Annie, a star basketball player and class valedictorian, takes a job right out of high school in the Butte, Montana library. She wants to attend the University of Montana in Missoula as a Lady Griz, but a bad knee has kept her out of the ranks of college student-athletes: "Annie, that knee is going to give in less than a season," her coach warns her, even as the coaches for the Lady Griz persist in recruiting her. In the meantime, there's a public masturbator prowling the stacks of the library...

In "The Stars Are Bright in Texas," Kimmy and her husband Greg have flown into Houston to look at houses in the planned development of The Woodlands north of the largest city in the Lone Star State. Kimmy is recovering from the stillbirth of her child and doesn't seem to be in the best condition to be househunting, especially since the house they want has been snatched from them by a higher bidder.

The other three stories deal with a couple in Austin, Texas concerned about anthrax attacks; a family tragedy that forces Bill and Lizzy to examine their own lives in a Maine cabin and in pre-dot.com bust San Francisco, Mimi is employed in the marketing department of Shakespeare.com. She and her teacher husband Leo are trying to start a family in their termite-infested house in Bernal Heights.

All three are wonderfully executed by a very original writer. I was going to bring up the usual suspects to compare them to Ward, but then i thought of our contemporary Dorothy Parker, Fran Lebowitz. Yes, Ward's writing has the spirit of the quintessential New Yorker Lebowitz, author of "Metropolitan Life."

And then comes Lola...

The six Lola stories start when college student Lola Wilkerson, from upscale suburban Rye, New York, is dumped by her boyfriend Iain, who falls in love with Miss Montana in the story "Miss Montana's Wedding Day." All this takes place in the town where Annie wanted to move to, Missoula, Montana, home of the University of Montana.

In the second story, "Nan and Claude," we're seeing Nan Wilkerson, Lola's mom, as her marriage and life disintegrate. Claude is Nan's hairdresser. Nan and her investment banker husband Fred are drifting apart and a striking new hairdo by Claude isn't enough to keep Fred from running off.

In "She Almost Wrote Love," Lola discovers the love of her life, geologist Emmett, from a well-to-do Texas family. She also tries to find a third wife for her straying father, Fred. Nan has become the women's tennis pro in the country club where she was formerly a member.

Lola and Emmett are living in the expat compound in Saudi Arabia in the fourth story "Motherhood and Terrorism." The story is set in the period immediately after the Khobar Towers terrorism attack and Lola is desperately homesick for a more normal life in the States, while Emmett has his dream job as a geologist with BP.

Lola and Emmett have moved to Austin in "The Blue Flame," where Emmett has secured a teaching position in the geology department of the University of Texas. It doesn't pay anywhere near what he was earning in the Middle East and their growing family is living in what Emmett's mom Sissy considers absolute squalor. So, she naturally goes on a spending spree to help her son and his wife live a bit less messier.

And, speaking of messes, Lola's wandering dad Fred appears at their house in Austin in the sixth Lola story, "Grandpa Fred in Love." He wants a ride to Baytown, he says, to visit a woman he met on the Internet. Lola is the classically overbooked mother, but she still has ties to her almost always exasperating dad. Her predicament reminds me of the old line: "Friends you can choose or lose; you're stuck with your family."

"Love Stories in This Town" is a book both men and women will enjoy. It's a natural for a book club and Ballantine thoughtfully provides a reader's guide. For those who love short stories, "Love Stories in This Town" is a must-read book. As a lover of short stories who wants more published, I can't recommend this book too highly.

About the Author: Amanda Eyre Ward is a graduate of Williams College and the University of Montana. She is the author of three novels: "Sleep Toward Heaven," "How to Be Lost," and "Forgive Me." She and her family live in Austin, Texas.

Author's web site: www.amandaward.com

What could be better on a flight from LA to Ohio than a book of short stories? Wny a book of Amanda Eyre Ward's short stories, without a doubt!

EIn ech of the stories, a female protagonist of an age to worry about child-bearing, imeets a different take on love and setting. In this anthology, the reader moves across the U.S. and to the Middle East. Some stories are directly connected with the deep losses of 9/11---and others not at all connected. But the emotion and the detail of each story sculpts a particular place and woman.

The end of the book, with interlocking stories of Lola, made me wish for a Lola novel. Without a doubt, Ward has amazing talent. The ambiguity of the final line lingers, making you wonder, "What happened next to this woman?" I love that kind of reading.

I rarely read story collections from cover to cover, but Love Stories in This Town drew me in from the start and kept me reading page after page. These delightful and moving stories left me feeling understood.

I had high hopes for this book. It was a major let-down. The stories left you with too many unanswered questions. There was no organization in the stories. The author jumped all over the place, going off subject, and I found myself turning back pages, wondering what the original story line was. The book was not edited very well. Names of characters suddenly changed, places changed, sentences weren't constructed correctly, etc. Each story felt exactly the same too. They were all about a woman from a small town who is dating/married/in love with a scientist. BORING. It was a mess and frustrating to read.

Bottom line, don't waste your time.

I consider myself a pretty big fan of Amanda Eyre Ward. I have read and enjoyed all three of her books -- SLEEP TOWARD HEAVEN, HOW TO BE LOST, and FORGIVE ME; and my book club even discussed SLEEP TOWARD HEAVEN a few years ago. So when Ms. Ward contacted me on Twitter (@amandaeyreward) and asked if I would be interested in receiving a copy of her latest book LOVE STORIES IN THIS TOWN, I almost fell over. Of course, I wanted to read it!

LOVE STORIES IN THIS TOWN is a little different from Ms. Ward's other books -- it is actually a collection of twelve short stories. To be honest with you, I haven't read many short story collections. I think I am actually a little intimidated by short stories, but I don't really understand why. (Come to think of it, that might be a topic for a future post!) Since I enjoyed Ms. Ward's other books and already appreciated her writing style, I assumed that I would probably like her short stories too. I am happy to say that I recognized Ms. Ward's writing in each of these stories, and I absolutely thought this book was a treat to read.

While the book is made up of twelve short stories, there are also two parts to this book. The first part is made of six short stories with the underlying theme of love (in all shapes and forms.) The second part of the novel also deals with similar themes; however, these six stories are all about the character of Lola. I can't really decide if I liked one part of the book better than the other, but I did enjoy getting to know Lola (maybe that's my bias because I usually read novels.) I'm sure this is always the case when someone reads a collection of short stories, but there are definitely a few stories (and characters) that really stood out to me. Having said that, I enjoyed all twelve of the stories and thought they were beautifully written; and there really weren't any that didn't cause me to think.

One story that made a strong impression on me was the very first one in the book -- "Should I Be Scared?" This story is about a woman who is living in fear in the months following the 9/11 terrorist attack. She is absolutely desperate to get her hands on some cipro; and her growing fears eventually take over her life and even harm her relationship with her husband. There is another touching story related to the aftermath of 9/11 called "The Way the Sky Changed." This story deals with a widow who attempts to enter the dating scene again. My heart just went out to the characters in this story, and it definitely pointed out how much a tragedy like this has so many rippling effects.

I'm finding it difficult not to talk about each story because there are so many things in each one that are worth discussing. I also really liked all six of the Lola stories that made up the second part of this book. These six stories span 10 years, and I really felt like I got to know the Lola character at various stages in her life. Each of these stories can stand alone, but I really like how they flowed with each other. One in particular really has stayed in my thoughts -- "Grandpa Fred in Love." In this story, Lola has to deal with her difficult father while also trying to come to terms with her daughter's delayed development. I would love to see Lola appear in either future short stories or even in her own novel.

I have such an appreciation for authors who can write good short stories. I am definitely not a writer, but I imagine that it would be so difficult to develop a story and its characters in so few pages. As I read LOVE STORIES IN THE TOWN, I thought Ms. Ward did a wonderful job with these stories. Not only the characters came to life, but the stories and even the settings were developed fully.

Another thing I absolutely loved about this book were all of the "extras" in the back. The interview with Ms. Ward is fantastic and really enhanced my enjoyment of these stories. Plus, I was just thrilled to find out that she is working on another novel! In addition, there is a reading guide that has some very thought-provoking questions about the themes and characters. I know my book club has never really tackled a collection of short stories, but I think LOVE STORIES IN THIS TOWN might make a terrific selection for us. The stories are all engaging, and there are just loads of things to discuss.

Whether you are a reader who loves short stories or one more like me who is just beginning to appreciate them, I highly recommend LOVE STORIES IN THIS TOWN.

These stories are not sweet, sappy, saccharine, predictable. Ward has delved in the psyches of different types of people and really brought out the cold hard truth of relationships. I enjoyed every story in this collection. Plenty of surprises throughout. I laughed. I could relate. Sometimes if I didn't, Ward finds a way to make me empathize with the characters. She really does an excellent job with Love Stories in This Town. I highly recommend it.

Do you detect a pattern here? Rave five-star reviews of "Love Stories in this Town" by Amanda Eyer Ward - many which state that they rarely, if ever, love every single short story in a collection. I echo those reviews. Every single story in the collection is fabulous. Ward's humor is right up my alley, and her characters are fascinating and easy to relate to. She is a gifted short story writer, and although I'm thrilled to hear she has a new novel in the works...I also hope she never quits the short story form at which she so clearly excels.

This collection of modern short love stories is so so good! I loved these women, their voices, their oh-so-modern yet timeless struggles to realize their dreams, fall in love, have babies or not, make life turn out good.

Amanda Eyre Ward is a master at opening lines, such as "I first heard about Cipro at the potluck." She's great on last lines, too, like this one: "In the twilight, one loon sang out. The cry was beautiful and lonely." And the stories in between those opening and closing lines are impossible to resist.

Never has a short story collection captivated my attention like this! Each story left me wanting more, while at the same time providing a sense of closure -- I have rarely found this balance in other collections. In a matter of pages, I connected with each character and storyline, so that when the story ended my own imagination would try to envision what might have happened next. Ward has an amazing ability to represent the point of view of the down-and-out as well as the up-and-coming with equaled respect and empathy.

I have enjoyed each of Ward's novels and pre-ordered my copy of "Love Stories in this Town." Honestly I couldn't put it down and can't wait for what comes next.