kjboldon's review against another edition
5.0
Really impressive, this collection of non-linked stories nonetheless is a seamless whole, strung together with a unifying theme of the push/pull of life, and the many compromises we make along the way.
jess_segraves's review against another edition
4.0
Meloy's succinct, tight writing really drew me in. I felt wholly absorbed in her stories despite the variety in characters, time, and place. Her writing style is quite different than most, and I like that.
I also felt as though each short story had an ending, which I don't normally get the feeling of when I'm reading other short story collections. It makes for a great read, with lots of complex characters. A good display of the problems of humanness.
I also felt as though each short story had an ending, which I don't normally get the feeling of when I'm reading other short story collections. It makes for a great read, with lots of complex characters. A good display of the problems of humanness.
vanessa_issa's review against another edition
3.0
Great collection! The most interesting thing about this book is that we can understand the stories in more than one way. Each character is somehow pulled in different directions and they all make sense. It's very complex. I think I'll have to read it again in a few months to see if my interpretations have changed. The subjects are a little too depressing for my taste, but easy to understand and relate to. It's the first time I actually enjoy reading a book without happy endings (and that means a lot coming from me, seriously).
mimipoppins's review against another edition
3.0
Considering I really don't like short stories I did enjoy this book. I still wanted to know more about some of them but on the whole I enjoyed it. The discussion at bookclub was brilliant!
jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic collection of short stories. Each of them is to the point, beautifully depicted, and haunting. The themes are somewhat depressing to contemplate -- from adulterous spouses who fail to follow through on their plans to leave (thus the title "Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It") to father's betraying their daughters in unimaginable yet somewhat sympathetically to parents who are largely forsaken by their spoiled children. The majority of the stories are set in Montana with the remainder spread around the country and in one case Argentina. Many are set in the 1970s, although the time isn't particularly central. And almost all are about relationships, usually family ones, that start out appearing quite normal but that quickly become apparent are deeply damaged. I'm looking forward to her novels, with some fear that the first one will place more emphasis on the liars than it does the saints.
crabbygirl's review against another edition
4.0
[guessing at the star rating / mining my old FB notes now that they are almost impossible to find]
i picked up this collections of short stories awhile back but it got lost in the holiday shuffle. finished it today and it was wonderful. each story so vivid and on the edge of your seat with dramas that play in your head. it was absolutely, utterly fantastic.
as an aside, i felt sure the author was a man (the name on the cover was maile meloy, so no clues there) - particulary in a few of the stories due to language choice & attitudes, but it's actually a woman! it's a credit to her writing ability that i felt 'male' channeled throughout those male pieces. other than that, it felt as good - if not better - than an alice munroe collection.
i picked up this collections of short stories awhile back but it got lost in the holiday shuffle. finished it today and it was wonderful. each story so vivid and on the edge of your seat with dramas that play in your head. it was absolutely, utterly fantastic.
as an aside, i felt sure the author was a man (the name on the cover was maile meloy, so no clues there) - particulary in a few of the stories due to language choice & attitudes, but it's actually a woman! it's a credit to her writing ability that i felt 'male' channeled throughout those male pieces. other than that, it felt as good - if not better - than an alice munroe collection.
mattshervheim's review against another edition
4.0
I discovered Maile Maloy through to Kelly Reichardt's excellent film Certain Women, which adapts three Maloy short stories, including "Travis B." the first story in this collection. I'm still a bit haunted by the oppressive, overcast beauty Reichardt captured, so I was eager to meet Maloy's work directly. It did not disappoint.
Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It is a loosely thematically collection of short stories more or less about the tension of conflicting desires. In that, it reminded me a bit of Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It's a dark, psychologically rich collection with a gracefully understated style. Definitely not Louis L'Amour's western fiction. I liked it.
Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It is a loosely thematically collection of short stories more or less about the tension of conflicting desires. In that, it reminded me a bit of Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It's a dark, psychologically rich collection with a gracefully understated style. Definitely not Louis L'Amour's western fiction. I liked it.
bobbo49's review against another edition
3.0
A series of interesting and quirky short stories about life situations in which the protagonists "want it both ways". There is no conclusion to the stories - only a snapshot of the dilemna. Some of the stories are very good, but overall I found them a bit lackluster.
kjones31's review against another edition
4.0
Solid book of short stories. A few are humorous and hopeful--the father in Mexico especially tickled my funny bone--but the majority follow characters through difficult times and highlight the complexity of male-female relationships. Most feature Montana, infidelity, or both. I'm curious to read Meloy's young adult fiction ("The Apothecary" is supposed to be good) to see what her writing style is like when the characters aren't all hitting on /cheating on each other.
margaret_adams's review against another edition
Reviews of this and other work tell me that Meloy's "unerring empathy for her characters" even when they are, not to put too fine of a point on it, terrible people, is one of her literary trademarks, right up there with her concision, understatement and restraint. I agree. And yet there were moments when I almost resented the writing for making me like them, like some sort of literary collusion. That said, the breadth of the settings in this collection impressed me. I particularly liked the first story, Travis B., about a ranch worker who wanders into a school law class one winter evening because it's one of the few buildings in town that still has the lights on. "He got afraid of himself that winter; he sensed something dangerous that would break free if he kept so much alone."