A Gate at the Stairs

from jnavia

Lorrie Moore is just sooooo very clever and witty. I imagine that for the last decade, she's made little notes whenever she's thought of something clever to write, and this novel is a compilation of those notes pasted over a framework of a somewhat interesting but implausible story. I like wit an...

from theanalogdivide

"Omit needless words," goes the old saw from Strunk and White. For the longest time, I've taken that to mean that all prose should be stripped to its barest elements. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't, the writing becomes inert, lifeless. If you think the above phrase could be shortened ...

from dele2451

There's certainly a lot of pain and injustice in this book, but I'm glad to have read it. Moore has a unique writing voice and a kind of "old soul" wisdom ensconced in her story about the world of young women in the modern age. If you're looking for some sort of feel good story or thriller then k...

from lycomayflower

For the first half of A Gate at the Stairs, I was quite taken with the book. The writing is often very good, the narrator is likable and tells the story with a strong voice, and the atmosphere Moore creates is both gentle and realistic. But at the halfway point, I realized that I didn't understan...

from mckait

This is the story of families. Two families, that are broken in different ways. The book is told in the voice of Tassie Keltjin, the daughter of one of these families. Tassie is the daughter of a potato farmer. He is successful in his own way, but has a laid back attitude to pretty much everythin...