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Starred review from May 15, 2019
This debut is populated by characters who make unusual choices (big or small, intentional or not) and then face the fallout. Some books of short stories feel like subtle variations on a theme--practically the same tale over and over again. Not this one. The 11 entries in Maizes' collection are deliciously diverse. In the title story, Markus, a 13-year-old boy, decides to come out via his bar mitzvah speech and then copes with the cascading consequences of his bold, unusual choice. "Remember the valedictorian who came out in his graduation speech? His video was downloaded two million times....That's what I'm going to do in temple," Markus tells his boyfriend. In "Collections," Maya, a 65-year-old woman, struggles to adjust to her significantly diminished status and circumstances after the death of her wealthy partner of 14 years, for whom she had originally been hired to cook. "The bedroom wasn't far from the kitchen," we're told. In "Couch," a therapist's practice and life are dramatically transformed when she replaces the seating in her office with a couch that magically improves the outlook of anyone who sits on it. "Patients so depressed they questioned the value of their lives, so anxious they rarely left their homes, found relief as soon as they settled onto the sea-foam cushions," Maizes informs us. Certainly there are a few recurring elements in these stories: Jewish characters, beloved pets, people who love obsessively and/or unrequitedly, and tragic deaths, to name a few. Yet each succinct fictional nugget rolls inexorably along its own quirky trajectory, arrives at its own unexpected destination, and never overstays its welcome. Titular shoutout to a CNN talking head notwithstanding, this is a book about the heart. Breaking news: Maizes' gently witty and vaguely weird collection is well worth reading.

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May 27, 2019
Maizes depicts characters who feel ostracized from their peers under an array of circumstances in her delightfully eclectic debut collection. In the title story, a boy comes out as gay during his bar mitzvah speech. “Yiddish Lessons” tells the tale of a young Orthodox Jewish girl whose desperate need for attention leads her to commit a horrible act involving a young child. In “The Infidelity of Judah Maccabee,” the protagonist is jealous of his cat’s affection toward his wife. Maizes excels in humanizing the characters through their occasionally self-destructive flaws. Tattoo artist Trey lets his obsession with outward appearance destroy lives in the magical realism–inflected “Tattoo.” In “No Shortage of Birds,” middle-schooler Charlotte allows her jealousy of her mother’s new pet to fill her with violent resentment. United under the loose common theme of isolation, the stories meld together nicely, giving the collection a satisfying cumulative feel. Maizes’s direct manner of storytelling and her imperfect yet unmistakably human characters are sure to win over readers.

June 1, 2019
Essayist and Pushcart Prize-nominated author Maizes debuts a terrific collection of stories. After the death of her father, Charlotte feels isolated in her grief, while her mother brings home a parakeet that she names after her deceased husband. Trey is a tattoo artist whose art itself becomes fleshlike. He seeks to perfect the physical imperfections of people, but when he and his clients begin to believe that his art brings healing, a tragedy reminds him that he only covers the surface of deeper problems. Markus reveals that he is gay during his bar mitzvah and revels in the attention that he receives as a result without thinking of the consequences. Maya finds herself in poverty after being excluded from the will of the wealthy man she lived with for 14 years. Therapist Penelope helps her clients become better people while her own unnoticed depression slowly takes over her. Through her fantastic characters, all outsiders in some way, Maizes masterfully intertwines harsh realities with humor and a deep understanding of human nature.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)