You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
Published: April 24, 2018
Publisher: Random House
Format: via NetGalley
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis
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. A high-powered lawyer honeymooning with her husband is caught off guard by the appearance of the girl who tormented her in high school. A shy Ivy League student learns the truth about a classmate’s seemingly enviable life.
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 upends assumptions about class, relationships, and gender roles in a nation that feels both adrift and viscerally divided.
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.
My Thoughts
I’m not one for short stories but I just kept hearing really good things about this collection so I knew I had to give it a try. I listened to this on audio and I must say I really enjoyed it! Of course, like all short stories there were some stories that I liked more than the others but overall they were really interesting and compelling stories.
I think what works with this collection was that the author touched on subjects that we can all identify with everything from how social media affects us to the universal subject of relationships. I also liked how she touches on saying things that maybe we all have thought about but would never say. I personally connected with several stories and I liked how some had a nostalgic theme to them. Who hasn’t had that moment of looking back at their lives and seeing how much they have [or haven’t] changed?
This is a very smart collection of stories that everyone should read. They make you think and reminisce and at times make you question yourself as a person. This collection definitely makes me want to read more short stories. So do yourself a favor and dive into these wonderfully written stories they are well worth it.
