Curtis Sittenfeld has established a reputation as a sharp chronicler of the modern age who humanizes her subjects even as she skewers them. Now, with this first collection of short fiction, her “astonishing gift for creating characters that take up residence in readers’ heads” (The Washington Post) is showcased like never before. Throughout the ten stories in You Think It, I’ll Say It, Sittenfeld … I’ll Say It, Sittenfeld upends assumptions about class, relationships, and gender roles in a nation that feels both adrift and viscerally divided. In “The World Has Many Butterflies,” married acquaintances play a strangely intimate game with devastating consequences. In “Vox Clamantis in Deserto,” a shy Ivy League student learns the truth about a classmate’s seemingly enviable life. In “A Regular Couple,” a high-powered lawyer honeymooning with her husband is caught off guard by the appearance of the girl who tormented her in high school. And in “The Prairie Wife,” a suburban mother of two fantasizes about the downfall of an old friend whose wholesome lifestyle empire may or may not be built on a lie.
With moving insight and uncanny precision, Curtis Sittenfeld pinpoints the questionable decisions, missed connections, and sometimes extraordinary coincidences that make up a life. Indeed, she writes what we’re all thinking—if only we could express it with the wit of a master satirist, the storytelling gifts of an old-fashioned raconteur, and the vision of an American original.
“Every bit as smart, sensitive, funny, and genuine as her phenomenally popular novels,”* a dazzling collection from the New York Times bestselling author of Prep, American Wife, and Eligible
*Booklist (starred review)
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Great characters. Sittenfeld is an incredible writer, you feel like you are chatting with a best friend who is telling you a story about people she knows. Immensely readable.
This was not a feel-good book, but I don’t think it was intended to be. Initially I found the stories thought-provoking (sort of reminding me of the television show “What would you do?”)
But as time went on, the stories became somewhat gloomy and disheartening. While different scenarios throughout, at their core, all stories mostly had an underlying theme of insecurity and/or betrayal. A heavy dose of these themes, one after the other, felt like overload.
To be fair, I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it over a period of several weeks instead of several days. And themes aside, this author is exceptional in the art of short story telling.
Short story collections are usually a toss-up. I always expect to read a few I enjoy, a few I kind of enjoy, and a few I wish I’d never set eyes on. Curtis Sittenfeld’s collection is the exception. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every story. I don’t know how she did it, but within a few sentences the speaker’s voice was clear and their character established. I found myself sad to see each story ending, but eager to read the next one. And each story was so different, with a variety of people, diverse and flawed. I will be eager to read more from Ms. Sittenfeld!
I’m sorry to say I couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was about this book. Some of the stories were ok, but others were head scratchers. I usually love Curtis Sittenfeld’s work, but this one didn’t work for me.
It’s a well written book, but the stories didn’t hold my interest. I read 50+ pages, and then stopped. It wasn’t for me.
Love this author, and enjoyed the short story format
I don’t read a lot of short stories, but Curtis Sittenfield may be my favourite author so I was keen to read this collection. And I loved it. Every story was entirely satisfying, but at the same time featured characters I would happily spend more time with.
Trite and cliched
The author has written a couple of books which I enjoyed, American Wife being the stand out. I actually bought this which is rare for me, I usually wait for free books, based on the quality of that book but I was disappointed. Like the guy in I’ll think it you say it I found it a bit too vicious and contrived. Everything doesn’t have to be acidic and clever. The writing was good, meaning she can string sentences together but after the book was finished I just felt sad and bitter. As my mother would have said too sharp for her own good. Sorry Curtis, but all reviews can’t be positive, it’s four stars because you really can write well, but it was all so sad and bitter in the end, so I had to take off a star. Most people will probably love it and they can hate my opinion, like elbows we all have them.
Let me first say that I don’t like short stories. I find them to be abrupt and disappointing. I guess you can say my opinion on short stories is pretty exact when it comes to You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld.
This book is a collection of short stories which mostly centred around middle-aged people who are relatively unhappy with their lives, and I’d go so far to say they even think they’re past their prime too. While the writing of the short stories are mildly fascinating, I honestly couldn’t understand what the point of them were.
For the most part the stories revolved around people who are nostalgic for their youth, were envious of others, or of those who’d grown bitter and regretful. I couldn’t pity or feel sadness for these characters – what I really felt was disgust. Most of the stories are rather shameful or shocking. Since these are short stories, I have to wonder if I would have enjoyed them had they been more fleshed out and given more time. But that would have defeated the purpose of short stories; they’re abrupt and almost unfinished.
I had one short story that I enjoyed, Prairie Wife. This is about a woman who enjoys spite watching a YouTube influencer, and fantasies about ruining her career. At first, you think it might be her jealousy seeping out, but then you find out the influencer has marked herself as a farm-to-table, ideal evangelical Stepford Wife. That doesn’t sit well with the other woman because she knows first-hand that said influencer is a lesbian because they had been together when they were younger. I found the ending to be uplifting and enjoyable, more so than I expected!
As I was reading this book I really had to question if Curtis Sittenfeld saw so little of the world and had thought humanity was so bleak? I’m a cynic as much as the next person, but these stories were so shallow and petty — I seriously felt vacant reading them. This book really wasn’t my cup of tea.
In all honesty, the only reason I read this book is because it is part of my Girly Book Club. I sometimes question who voted on the books we read. There are some months a book is chosen that I never would have picked and am pleasantly surprised. This is not one of those months. When it comes to August’s Girly Book Club choice You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld I’m very disappointed. The only thing this book has going for it is it is a very quick read. But then again, it’s short stories. How long could you expect a group of poorly written stories to be? I’d shelve this one, and not pick it back up!
Read my full review here: https://bit.ly/2MEXEYj
oh just buy it. A short story by Curtis Sittenfeld is the world’s best snack
Blah. This is one of those books that makes me hate humans. Not a single character in any of these short stories is likable or even redeemable – they are all selfish, narcissistic and disgusting, and they take their self-loathing out on the people around them. Add in the fact that Sittenfeld wrote these in a sociopathically detached and monotone style…I honestly had to force myself to finish this one. It made my skin crawl.
The publisher’s letter included with my LibraryThing win copy of Curtis Sittenfeld’s You Think It, I’ll Say It notes that the ten stories included “pinpoints the questionable decisions, missed connections, and sometimes extraordinary coincidences that make up a life.”
If I could sum up the stories with one word it might be ironic, or perhaps in two words, unsettling insight.
Misunderstandings abound between the sexes, usually rooted in a woman’s self-doubt about their lovability, or their passivity in relationships, or the projection of need onto another. A lack of openness, once discovered, closes doors. Women dwell on the past, holding grudges or romantic fantasies. Denial of one’s neurosis causes conflict with coworkers. A man’s game is misunderstood by a woman who sees it as intimacy.
I felt too old for these stories about young women and forty-year-olds who grew up in a different world than I did. There is a lot of sex going on, and language that was verboten to me.
And yet, some things don’t change. Sittenfeld offers insights into the human experience we can all relate to.
“I had no idea, of course, that of all the feelings of youth that would pass, it was this one, of an abundance of time so great as to routinely be unfillable, that would vanish with the least ceremony.”
“Presumably, the campus of Dartmouth in the early nineties–like college campuses in every decade, like owns and cities everywhere–was home to many other virgins, afraid that they were too ugly to be loved, convinced that this private shame was theirs alone.”
(Vox Clamantis in Deserto)
“You think, Jesus, everyone in the world was once this young, floating on a tide of parental love and hope. That’s before they turn into teenage assholes.” (Plausible Deniability)
“I had a thing about touching certain people, about dirtiness…Strangely, being groped by the kids didn’t bother me; there was a purity to their dirtiness because they were so young.” (Volunteers Are Shining Stars)
“I can’t help seeing the election as a metaphor. It turns out that democracies aren’t that stable, and neither are marriages. And I’m so fucking confused! I didn’t think I’d be this confused with I was forty-three (…)I thought I had my act together (…) But something came loose inside me, something got dislodged, and I am still that teenager.” (Do-Over)
In the end, I enjoyed these stories and will return to them again. But I am glad to have survived those youthful years of self-doubt and troubled relationships, the nurtured grievances and desired do-overs.
A won a free book from the publisher through LibraryThing.