I didn’t love every story in the collection, but some of the stories were complete knockouts. In fact, the first half of the book left me underwhelmed, whereas the second half I really enjoyed. Maybe I settled into the subtleties of Moore’s style? 

There is a thread running through a few of the stories about injustices that happen to children. This had the psychology major in me curious about Moore as a writer and whether she went through something difficult with a child of her own. It turns out she did. I am always fascinated to see how real life finds its way into fiction. 

My favorites from this collection were “Which is more than I can about Most People”, “Four Calling Birds, Three French Hens”, “Real Estate”, “People Like that are the Only People Here: Canonical Babbling in Peed Onk” and “Terrific Mother”.