I remember breathlessly telling my twelve-year-old niece, Jaycie, that if Amy Bloom’s name were on the cover of a phone book I’d read it and enjoy every line. I’m a bit of a Bloom fan, and still remember buying her first novel Love Invents Us in hardcover at the B. Dalton in the Eden Prairie Mall just because I liked the title.

After reading Where the God of Love Hangs Out her newest short story collection that affirmation is truer than ever.

What I like so much about Bloom’s writing is that she populates her stories with intelligent, capable people. I like that her characters often make what could be considered the wrong decision knowing full-well that it isn’t the smartest thing to do. But they are some how compelled to try something new, to go beyond the boundaries of their bourgeois, successful lives. I like these kinds of characters because I think they have the most at stake, they risk everything and reading how that turns out is fulfilling.
Read More