Normal People Don't Live Like This

September 15, 2009
Leah Levinson, who has blazing red hair and an anorexic mother, is the timid protagonist of this collection of linked short stories, many previously published in literary magazines, journals, and collections and reworked for this book. A gritty New York is the backdrop for most of the stories, which take place in small Manhattan apartments, Leahs progressive high school, and the brownstone that houses her mothers employer. As can happen with this type of collection, the story arc is weak, with large gaps in time in which people disappear without explanation and a less than satisfying lack of continuity. Landis more than compensates stylistically by providing some delicious writing. Shifts in point of view from story to story allow the reader to see events through different lenses of perception. Touches of dark humor, puns, and wordplay provide a leaven for stories that are sometimes pretty dark. Evocative, lyrical prose and vivid imagery couple with a subtle fictional approach, mysterious references, and ambiguities. Buy this for your literary-fiction readers and short story fanstheyll appreciate it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)