Everyone but You

August 1, 2011
Most characters in this collection, already down on their luck, soon discover even more misery just around the next bend. Though small moments of grace are possible, they're invariably accompanied by failure and disillusionment. Novack (Precious) is fascinated by those on the edge: of insanity, of break-ups, of self-discovery fraught with acute pain. Moira, the narrator of "Conversions on the Road to Damascus," shares an apartment and, secretly, a boyfriend with Cass, a young histrionic actress. Moira is either paranoid and consumed with guilt or Cass is plotting revenge. The truthâand the problemâis that by the time the triangle unravels, everyone seems ridiculously misguided. Moira's proclamations, such as "I have always imagined that I would end up in bed with a man who looked like Nietzsche," could be excused as character quirks were they not the provenance of so many characters in so many stories. While premises are intriguing, too many unwieldy or unlikely turns and inconsistent character traits make it hard to invest. Forces in these 18 tales are driven by exigency rather than internal logic, and many follow the tried-and-true form of concluding with insights that shimmer with the promise of epiphanies. Something more fulfilling is just beyond the ken.

September 1, 2011
Novack follows her lauded debut, Precious (2009), with an electrifying collection of sexy, gutsy, imaginatively compassionate stories. Her female characters are frank and assertive, even when they're clueless, and Novack writes equally convincingly from a man's point of view. Vividly tactile, funny, irreverent, and incisive, these stories of imperiled relationships are also richly plotted. In the blisteringly funny and tough Fireflies, a hot number calling herself Lola picks up a guy named Harold as they watch a used-car lot go up in flames, ultimately teaching him a thing or two about the treacheries of love and the persistence of class divides. The arrival, via priority mail, of her long-estranged, now-deceased father's wooden leg jolts a young woman into awareness of how empty her casual sexual conquests are. In White Trees in Summer, an elderly man who helped his acutely suffering wife die is harassed by teenagers. Novack's keen and spirited tales delve into the crazy and cruel situations we helplessly devise and marvel over how unfathomable we are to each other and ourselves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)