Spoiled

November 24, 2008
After examining the lives of privileged 20-somethings in The Fundamentals of Play
, Macy sets her sights a decade older, and her new short story collection prominently features the concerns of women of leisure and the tension between classes. In “Eden's Gate,” an up-and-coming starlet and her old-money boyfriend share a tense dinner; in “Annabel's Mother,” Gramercy Park keyholders gossip. The title story follows adolescent Leigh as she muddles through a horseback riding competition and butts heads with her overbearing riding instructor. The two sisters in “Bait and Switch” find themselves in an awkward situation while spending a week together in an Italian beach house. While the stories are individually rewarding and Macy is especially adept at slyly pointing out the absurdities inherent in a social set where renting a summerhouse is a source of shame, the similarities between her characters and the preponderance of fish-out-of-water situations make the collection seem repetitive and narrow.

Starred review from February 1, 2009
Nine years after her winning debut novel (The Fundamentals of Play, 2000), Macy follows with an impressive, psychologically nuanced collection of stories on class and gender in New York.

The stories profile a certain kind of American woman who is upwardly mobile, though not gauche enough to admit it, even to herself."Christie" has an old-fashioned construction. It's a straightforward character study of a young woman who comes to Manhattan to make good. But soon it becomes clear that the narrator has a grudge against Christie—she is a phony, shallow gold digger. The narrator vows to prune Christie from her circle of acquaintances. That is until she sees her a few years later exiting the luxury building she and her husband have been denied an apartment in. Lunch ensues, the power has shifted and it soon becomes clear that the story's focus is not Christie at all but the narrator. In"Annabel's Mother," Liz becomes fascinated by the girl that plays in the private park across from her building. Annabel is polite and lovely and plays with Liz's toddler Sally, and while this goes on, Liz confides in Annabel's West Indian nanny, Marva. Liz is outraged that Annabel's mother won't loan Marva the money to bring her son to America, and so she offers a loan herself. This is the beginning of many Liz/Marva disappointments. Marva is not grateful enough for the loan, Marva has given Sally a nonorganic doughnut and, worst of all, Marva may like Annabel more than she likes Sally. In"The Red Coat," a newlywed steals the coat of her recently acquired housekeeper (a young, attractive Ukrainian cleaning her way through design school) to both diminish her and gain some of her power. In"Taroudant," a woman honeymooning in Morocco sets the tone for years of what will undoubtedly be an unhappy marriage—she is competitive, dissatisfied and yearning for the kind of unnamed excitement that courts tragedy.

Sophisticated and intelligent, Macy offers the kind of subtlety that turns the ordinary into the sublime.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 1, 2009
These stories about newly successful (read nouveaux riches) women in their thirties describe lives of insecurity and self-generated stress. The female characters, immature and uncomfortable in their skins, find themselves in a variety of situations for which they are inadequately prepared, and their inner dialogs express anxiety, guilt, instability, and insecurity. This contrasts dramatically with the male characters, who appear smooth, sophisticated, and worldly. From the new mother looking for a nanny to the new film star revisiting her roots to the writer at the funeral of her mentor, the women struggle to maintain a facade that covers an underlying teenage angst. O'Henry Prize winner Macy ("The Fundamentals of Play") captures the struggle to attain maturity, but it is unfortunate that all the women here have the same underlying flaw, making the stories somewhat repetitive despite their varied scenarios. Recommended for general fiction collections.Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Libs., Providence

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2009
Educated, independent, and privileged New Yorkwomentake most of the leading roles in Macysnew collection, following The Fundamentals of Play (2000). The Red Coat peers into the life of wealthy Trishas she becomes increasingly anxious, if not slightly paranoid, over the arrival of her self-confident cleaning woman, Evgenia. In Bait and Switch, two sisters, demure Elspeth and bold Louise, are vacationing in a beach house in Italy with Louises young daughter in tow. When the siblings take up a handsome Germans offer of lunch one afternoon, they find themselves leaving the meal in a situation far from what theyanticipated. In Taroudant, a newlyweds impulsive decision to explore the gritty neighborhood surrounding her luxury hotel leads to harrowing consequences. While most of Macysstories feature well-off thirtysomethings, the superb title story follows adolescent Leigh and her domineering riding instructor during the course of a horse competition. Issues of class and femininity are woven throughoutmany of these tales, and often make for interesting perceptions and sly conclusions.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)